Healthcare in post-COVID India: A call for a decentralized healthcare system.

Over the years, healthcare system in India has been largely centralized, expensive and impersonal. In a country where expenditure on healthcare is low, most healthcare expenditure is out-of-pocket and where most of the population continue to live in rural areas or in urban fringes, such a care is inaccessible, unresponsive and unaffordable. COVID pandemic exposed these realities further.

Determinants of nutritional status among under-five children receiving Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) in India.

Undernutrition is a significant public health problem and the leading risk factor for India's disease burden. To understand the determinants of nutritional status among under-five children receiving Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) in India. The study used the National Family Health Survey-4 (2015-16) data.

Drivers of food acquisition practices in the food environment of peri-urban Hyderabad, India: A qualitative investigation.

This study investigates drivers of food acquisition practices in the food environment of peri-urban Hyderabad, India. We used a multi-method qualitative methodology that included in-depth interviews (n = 18) and an innovative qualitative geographical information systems (Q-GIS) approach, featuring participatory photo mapping and follow-up graphic-elicitation interviews (n = 22). Secondary data from eight focus group discussions (n = 94) was used to corroborate findings related to fruits and vegetables.

Utilization Trends of a Government-Sponsored Health Insurance Program in South India: 2014 to 2018.

Objectives: To characterize the utilization trends associated with the Aarogyasri health insurance scheme in Andhra Pradesh, India.

Methods: This is a retrospective cross-sectional study including participants enrolled in the Aarogyasri health insurance scheme, with recorded claims pertaining to inpatient care from quarter 3, 2014 through quarter 2, 2018. The main outcome measure, was annual utilization by service category, trended to characterize changes in the mean claim amount and the median length of stay.

Predicting Participant Compliance With Fitness Tracker Wearing and Ecological Momentary Assessment Protocols in Information Workers: Observational Study.

Background: Studies that use ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) or wearable sensors to track numerous attributes, such as physical activity, sleep, and heart rate, can benefit from reductions in missing data. Maximizing compliance is one method of reducing missing data to increase the return on the heavy investment of time and money into large-scale studies.

Objective: This paper aims to identify the extent to which compliance can be prospectively predicted from individual attributes and initial compliance.

Contagious diseases and tourism: a systematic review based on bibliometric and content analysis methods.

The present study examines the existing knowledge and intellectual structure on contagious diseases and tourism to map the development of the concept through collaborative networks. Utilising the Scopus and Web of Science bibliometric databases, 328 research records were extracted through keyword searching and forward referencing approaches. Based on these records, the study conducted bibliometric and content analysis to diagnose core themes in the field.

Community health worker-led, technology-enabled private sector intervention for diabetes and hypertension management among urban poor: a retrospective cohort study from large Indian metropolitan city.

Objectives: We assessed the effectiveness of community health workers (CHWs)-led, technology-enabled programme as a large-scale, real-world solution for screening and long-term management of diabetes and hypertension in low-income and middle-income countries.

Design: Retrospective cohort design.

Setting: Forty-seven low-income neighbourhoods of Hyderabad, a large Indian metropolis.

Urban-rural differential in diabetes and hypertension among elderly in India: A study of prevalence, factors, and treatment-seeking.

Aims: This study estimates the prevalence of hypertension and diabetes among older adults and brings forth the urban-rural differentials in the said morbidities. The treatment-seeking approach of older adults is also looked at with regard to hypertension and diabetes.

Methods: Study utilized Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI) data.

Improving vaccination coverage and timeliness through periodic intensification of routine immunization: evidence from Mission Indradhanush.

Only an estimated 62% of Indian children under the age of 2 years are fully immunized. We examined the association between India's Mission Indradhanush (MI)-a periodic intensification of the routine immunization program-which was implemented in phases across districts between March 2015 and July 2017, and routine vaccination coverage and timeliness among children. We used data from a 2015 to 2016 national survey of children (n = 29,532) and employed difference-in-difference regressions to examine binary indicators of receipt of 11 vaccines and whether vaccines were received at recommended ages.

An Unstructured Supplementary Service Data System for Daily Tracking of Patient Samples and Diagnostic Results in a Diagnostic Network in Malawi: System Development and Field Trial.

Background: Diagnostics in many low- and middle-income countries are conducted through centralized laboratory networks. Samples are collected from patients at remote point-of-care health facilities, and diagnostic tests are performed at centralized laboratories. Sample transportation systems that deliver diagnostic samples and test results are crucial for timely diagnosis and treatment in such diagnostic networks.

Evaluation of Human Ear Anatomy and Functionality by Axiomatic Design.

The design of the human ear is one of nature's engineering marvels. This paper examines the merit of ear design using axiomatic design principles. The ear is the organ of both hearing and balance.

Cost-Effectiveness of Improved Hypertension Management in India through Increased Treatment Coverage and Adherence: A Mathematical Modeling Study.

Background: Despite the availability of effective and affordable treatments, only 14% of hypertensive Indians have controlled blood pressure. Increased hypertension treatment coverage (the proportion of individuals initiated on treatment) and adherence (proportion of patients taking medicines as recommended) promise population health gains. However, governments and other payers will not invest in a large-scale hypertension control program unless it is both affordable and effective.

Dark and bright spots in the shadow of the pandemic: Rural livelihoods, social vulnerability, and local governance in India and Nepal.

The global COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented disruption to lives and livelihoods around the world. These disruptions have brought into sharp focus experiences of vulnerability but also, at times, evidence of resilience as people and institutions gear up to respond to the crisis. Drawing on intensive qualitative enquiry in 16 villages of Himalayan India and Nepal, this paper documents both dark and bright spots from the early days of the pandemic.

Integrating Xpert MTB/RIF for TB diagnosis in the private sector: evidence from large-scale pilots in Patna and Mumbai, India.

Background: Xpert MTB/RIF (Xpert) has been recommended by WHO as the initial diagnostic test for TB and rifampicin-resistance detection. Existing evidence regarding its uptake is limited to public health systems and corresponding resource and infrastructure challenges. It cannot be readily extended to private providers, who treat more than half of India's TB cases and demonstrate complex diagnostic behavior.

Risk Stratification for Early Detection of Diabetes and Hypertension in Resource-Limited Settings: Machine Learning Analysis.

Background: The impending scale up of noncommunicable disease screening programs in low- and middle-income countries coupled with limited health resources require that such programs be as accurate as possible at identifying patients at high risk.

Objective: The aim of this study was to develop machine learning-based risk stratification algorithms for diabetes and hypertension that are tailored for the at-risk population served by community-based screening programs in low-resource settings.

Methods: We trained and tested our models by using data from 2278 patients collected by community health workers through door-to-door and camp-based screenings in the urban slums of Hyderabad, India between July 14, 2015 and April 21, 2018.

Combining serology with case-detection, to allow the easing of restrictions against SARS-CoV-2: a modelling-based study in India.

India's lockdown and subsequent restrictions against SARS-CoV-2, if lifted without any other mitigations in place, could risk a second wave of infection. A test-and-isolate strategy, using PCR diagnostic tests, could help to minimise the impact of this second wave. Meanwhile, population-level serological surveillance can provide valuable insights into the level of immunity in the population.

Service Failure and Recovery in B2B Markets - A Morphological Analysis.

The existing body of research on service failures and recoveries primarily deals with business-to-consumer markets, with relatively limited and scattered research on business-to-business (B2B) markets. The purpose of this paper is to review the existing literature on these failures and recoveries in B2B markets, conceptualize and develop a morphological analysis (MA) framework, and identify research gaps that point to future research possibilities. We present an MA framework based on a literature review of 114 papers on the ABDC/ABS/ Clarivate Analytics list.

Health Impacts of the Green Revolution: Evidence from 600,000 births across the Developing World.

What is the contribution of the 'Green Revolution' to improvements in child health during the 20 century? We provide global scale estimates of this relationship by constructing a novel, spatially-precise indicator of modern crop variety (MV) diffusion and leveraging child-level data from over 600,000 children across 21,604 sampling locations in 37 developing countries between 1961-2000. Results indicate that the diffusion of MVs reduced infant mortality by 2.4-5.

Global forest restoration and the importance of prioritizing local communities.

Forest restoration occupies centre stage in global conversations about carbon removal and biodiversity conservation, but recent research rarely acknowledges social dimensions or environmental justice implications related to its implementation. We find that 294.5 million people live on tropical forest restoration opportunity land in the Global South, including 12% of the total population in low-income countries.

Predicting the impact of patient and private provider behavior on diagnostic delay for pulmonary tuberculosis patients in India: A simulation modeling study.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) incidence in India continues to be high due, in large part, to long delays experienced by patients before successful diagnosis and treatment initiation, especially in the private sector. This diagnostic delay is driven by patients' inclination to switch between different types of providers and providers' inclination to delay ordering of accurate diagnostic tests relevant to TB. Our objective is to quantify the impact of changes in these behavioral characteristics of providers and patients on diagnostic delay experienced by pulmonary TB patients.

Leveraging Providers' Preferences to Customize Instructional Content in Information and Communications Technology-Based Training Interventions: Retrospective Analysis of a Mobile Phone-Based Intervention in India.

Background: Many public health programs and interventions across the world increasingly rely on using information and communications technology (ICT) tools to train and sensitize health professionals. However, the effects of such programs on provider knowledge, practice, and patient health outcomes have been inconsistent. One of the reasons for the varied effectiveness of these programs is the low and varying levels of provider engagement, which, in turn, could be because of the form and mode of content used.

Initiative for Promoting Affordable and Quality Tuberculosis Tests (IPAQT): a market-shaping intervention in India.

A majority of patients with tuberculosis (TB) in India are diagnosed and treated in the private sector. Yet, most private providers do not use most recent WHO-endorsed microbiological tests such as liquid cultures, line probe assays and Xpert MTB/RIF due to a combination of factors such as lack of awareness, misaligned incentives and high prices that are unaffordable for patients. We designed a market-based approach to transform a high-price, low-volume market equilibrium into a low-price, high-volume equilibrium to improve the uptake of these tests.