Background: With its clear focus on financial protection, government-funded health insurance (GFHI) stands out among the strategies for universal health coverage (UHC) implemented by low-to-middle income countries globally. Since 2018, India has implemented a GFHI programme called the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), which covers 500 million individuals. The current study aims to evaluate the performance of GFHI in meeting its key objectives of improving access, quality and financial protection for hospital-based care in two large central Indian states: Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWomen constitute 70% of the global health workforce but are significantly underrepresented in leadership positions. In India, professional medical associations (PMAs) play a crucial role in shaping policy agenda in the health sector, but very little is known about gender diversity in their leadership. Therefore, we analysed the gender representation of current and past leaderships of Indian PMAs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDelivering specialised care for major burns requires a multidisciplinary health workforce. While health systems 'hardware' issues, such as shortages of the healthcare workforce and training gaps in burn care are widely acknowledged, there is limited evidence around the systems 'software' aspects, such as interest, power dynamics, and relationships that impact the healthcare workforce performance. This study explored challenges faced by the health workforce in burn care to identify issues affecting their performance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSARS-CoV-2 infection results in cytokine burst, leading to proinflammatory responses in lungs of COVID-19 patients. SARS-CoV-2 ORF3a triggers the generation of proinflammatory cytokines. However, the underlying mechanism of dysregulation of proinflammatory responses is not well understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF