Health Breaking News 339

Health Breaking News Links, as part of the research project PEAH (Policies for Equitable Access to Health), aim to focus on the latest challenges by trade and governments rules to equitable access to health in resource-limited settings

Health Breaking News 339

 

UN’s Development Goals Remain Largely Elusive 

Salute globale. Nasce Mach, il polo di eccellenza che unisce la Statale di Milano e il Ca Granda. In autunno il primo master 

MACH – Centre for Multidisciplinary Research in Health Science 

Draft UHC Declaration Strong On R&D Transparency, Weak On R&D Incentives Reform 

Four Recommendations to Accelerate Global Access to Quality, Affordable Health Products 

Poor countries pay up to 30 times more for medicines 

Zolgensma: A Remarkable New Treatment, An ICER Analysis, And A Poorly Justified Price 

Charity and NIH funding related to Zolgensma 

New Resource Gateway Launched On Innovation & Access To Medicines 

KNOWLEDGE PORTAL on innovation and access to medicines 

New Drug Transparency Observatory Launched In France 

Call for sanctions as data shows hundreds of UK clinical trials (and over 39,000 medical studies worldwide) still fail to register 

Tackling the Triple Transition in Global Health Procurement 

In the face of slow progress, WHO offers a new tool and sets a target to accelerate action against antimicrobial resistance 

WHO: Statement on the meeting of the International Health Regulations (2005) Emergency Committee for Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 

Merck to make more Ebola vaccine, WHO declines to declare global emergency 

WHO under pressure over Ebola response 

DRC Ebola: latest numbers as of 17 June 2019 

Becoming malaria free by 2020 

UK announces $215 million food, water and medical help for Afghanistan 

Rising Population Trends Threaten UN’s Development Goals in Asia & Africa 

Italy adopts decree that could fine migrant rescuers up to €50,000 

Human Rights Reader 485 

Women Deliver: time and place 

Reflections on Women Deliver 2019: It’s time to move beyond individualistic gender empowerment 

Eurodad Annual Report 2018 

WFP accused of negligence over Uganda food aid deaths 

Drones deployed to monitor Brazil forest growth 

National energy and climate plans will not meet targets, EU warns 

Desertification ‘More Dangerous and More Insidious than Wars’ 

Health Breaking News 338

Health Breaking News Links, as part of the research project PEAH (Policies for Equitable Access to Health), aim to focus on the latest challenges by trade and governments rules to equitable access to health in resource-limited settings

Health Breaking News 338

 

Universal Health Coverage: Moving Together, Stronger Together

Universal health coverage and primary care, Thailand 

Myth Buster: why European economic governance is a key policy for health? 

CONCORD Annual Report 2018 – Fifteen years of collective actions 

Watered-down Tobin tax could enter into force in 2021 

Realigning Incentives To Optimize Generic And Biosimilar Prescribing 

Government policy interventions to reduce human antimicrobial use: A systematic review and evidence map 

Tech solutions to fight fake medicines 

Beyond Band-Aids: For a Funder Collaborative Taking on Global Poverty, It’s All About Changing Systems 

Measles kills 1,500 in Congo: Epidemic declared as health workers struggle to contain Ebola and cholera 

Second Ebola victim dies in Uganda as disease spreads 

Confirmation of case of ebola virus disease in Uganda 

DRC Ebola: latest numbers as of 12 June 2019 

Estimating undetected Ebola spillovers 

OPINION: Ebola patients are human beings not biosecurity threats 

Seasonal Influenza Vaccination: A Tool To Advance Epidemic And Pandemic Preparedness In Low- and Middle-Income Countries 

New Gavi Partnership: Deploying Biometric Technology To Expand Child Vaccine Coverage 

Interview With Seth Berkley, CEO Of Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance 

HIV project in Eshowe, South Africa reaches 90-90-90 target one year ahead of 2020 deadline 

Science tikkun: A framework embracing the right of access to innovation and translational medicine on a global scale 

In Peru, Baby Formula Reps Target Doctors In Low-Income Community Despite Decades-Old Ban 

Britain’s NIHR launches new clinical trial policies – but some other research funders still drag their feet 

PEAH Interviews ATTAC – Aim to Terminate Tobacco and Cancer – Society 

To Bolster Access to Water and Sanitation, These Funders Are Betting on a Systems Approach 

Snakebite testimonials – in Agok, South Sudan 

Food safety is everyone’s business 

Drought in Africa leaves 45 million in need across 14 countries 

Poor nations could be future ‘guardians’ of agrobiodiversity 

Scotland and Wales place hopes in battery power 

Climate change: UK government to commit to 2050 target 

EU fossil gas investments undermine bloc’s climate goals, campaigners say 

PEAH Interviews ATTAC – Aim to Terminate Tobacco And Cancer – Society

PEAH is pleased to interview Dr. Sumedha Kushwaha and Dr. Dikha De, as the Founder and, respectively, the Head - Strategy and Operations, of India based not for profit ATTAC - Aim to Terminate Tobacco and Cancer - Society. 

Dr Sumedha also serves as Head - Public Health, UE LifeSciences India Pvt. Ltd

 

 Dr. Sumedha Kushwaha  Founder

 

 Dr. Dikha De Head – Strategy and Operation

 ATTAC – Aim to Terminate Tobacco and Cancer – Society

 

 What will save the most lives in the next 50 years is the daily service of people—people like you, imaginatively deployed to prevent human suffering. Volunteer health workers who travel across muddy roads to deliver health care to their communities. Nurses and doctors effectively delivering the right level of care, not the type of care that pays them the most money. The volunteer on the end of the phone, talking to someone who feels desperate. It will be human kindness, brilliantly channelled, that will continue to improve the health of millions over the next 50 years.

Rebecca Hope, Director of Programs and Co-Founder, YLabs

Interview

 

Dr. Sumedha, when and why did you start ATTAC?

It all started with a young 13-year old boy unaware of a pre-cancerous lesion in his oral cavity. Asked about his habit, he told us that he has been chewing tobacco in the form of Gutka sold in loose flashy packet easily available just outside his school gates in the nearby village. After he was informed about the lesion and its consequences, he replied

I knew it was a bad thing but I didn’t know it would take away my life.

This was it. As if a switch clicked inside me, fuelled by the apathy, I started on my social work journey and volunteered for more than 6 organizations learning about the ways of social work and altruism.

And in mid-August 2014 I as a 2nd year postgraduate student in Public Health Dentistry with my college batchmates opened a not for profit society called ATTAC – Aim To Terminate Tobacco And Cancer in 2014

What have been your major accomplishments?

Since 2014, ATTAC’s team ably helped by 100+ dedicated volunteers over the globe, has made more than 30,000 patients aware of such an unregulated, low priced, conveniently attainable cancer-causing substance. Apart from providing 11,000+ patients with a basic health check-up we have screened 7,000+ patients for oral cancer and the females with breast cancer screening too.

Those with positive habit history of tobacco usage are provided short one-on-one counselling on methods to quit, steps to quit and remain tobacco-free. Those with pre-cancerous lesions are counselled with emphasis on cessation and referred for further tests.

We’ve collaborated with similar not-for-profits to cover wider areas and provided training sessions for law enforcement officers, primary health-care workers, educational institutions and the Uttar Pradesh State Tobacco Control Cell.
We have also opened a facility for low cost diagnostic tests and tied up with various health care facilities for subsidized treatment along with running 3 cessation centres with no fees.

Our focus is majorly prevention and early diagnosis of diseases because we understand that if diseases are detected at their initial stages, the per capita expenditure is reduced grossly. Therefore, unburdening the Indian health care system.

What are the challenges you faced?

Tobacco use in India has deep cultural and historical roots; people take a puff of Hookah to get relief from stomach problems or they might fill tobacco in their teeth cavities to get pain relief. Along with this attractive packaging, little information on contents, various and newer methods of intake, advertisements and media portrayal have made it harder to break through. But they don’t realize that even a one-time contact with this poison is addictive enough to create a vicious cycle.

Although pan chewing and associated tobacco use began among the nobility, it soon spread to the common folk, and its importance as an obligatory social custom was established at all levels of society. By 1617, Smokeless tobacco use had become so popular among all classes that Jahangir, who came to the throne after Akbar, issued a decree identifying tobacco’s potential harms and forbidding its use.
 Smokeless Tobacco and Public Health in India, MoHFW, Govt. Of India

To change the mindset and break some centuries-old myths, ATTAC has travelled to several rural, semi-urban and urban areas to create awareness, prevent, screen, provisionally diagnose and provide referral for treatment. These little steps to create a tobacco and cancer free society matter a great deal when a patient understands and relates to our mission, through either the public health talks or the individualised screening sessions. But sometimes one session is not enough. Its human nature to follow the path of least resistance and resisting change is easy because people tend to focus on what they have to give up. We make them realize what all they could gain, but bringing along change is a gradual, time-consuming and laborious process. Many patients are lost in follow ups and further assistance cannot be provided due to logistics or finances.

Since 2014, we’ve only been able to open up three cessation centres. Our major logistical limitation is acquiring adequate manpower and budgeting to expand our reach pan India and open up at least a 100 more tobacco cessation centres by next year. But that can only happen if we collaborate with local doctors/dentists and similar not-for-profits.

How do you plan to solve them?

Like I said, to reach more areas, we need to lessen the distance between interested public and specialists who can provide help and for that to be feasible, technology might be an enabler.
Nowadays technology is what brings us closer, be it accessing healthcare information, finding a suitable doctor, getting online consultations to even finding online support groups.

Tobacco cessation counselling is a metaphorical handheld guidance to direct the patient into changing their toxic habit to a healthy one. It’s not imposition of your values or writing prescriptions but a soft skill to help the patient detoxify years of physiological and psychological effects of nicotine, a combined persistent effort tailored to their dependence and usage to achieve a quit phase.

We at ATTAC, along with a multidisciplinary advisory board from both healthcare and technological divisions, aim to innovate a novel mHealth idea to help the healthcare professionals provide a standardised, evidence-based, session-wise therapy easily delivered in a healthcare setup. This will not only help to reduce the burden on the overall healthcare system but also in treating non communicable disease load of the society by simply increasing the information flow from practitioner to client i.e. making him aware.

We aim to objectify the entire cessation protocol but the same time acknowledge the fact that quitting is a personalized journey. The basics of counselling coupled with the knowledge of the practitioner in a user-friendly tool with access to newer material regularly is what we envision. Currently in its development phase, we are taking inputs on user-interface designing and content by various leaders in their specialities.

Dr. Dikha, do you believe technology can solve the problems of the developing world?

We have many visionaries of different sectors working relentlessly to solve public health problems, especially in war zones of Palestine and Iraq, and technology is the supreme carrier. If not solve them completely, technology can definitely help aid us in bridging the doctor-patient gap.

“To improve health and reduce health inequalities, rigorous evaluation of eHealth is necessary to generate evidence and promote the appropriate integration and use of technologies.” WHO

Yes, there are issues of data encryption and multiple bug fixes, but sustainable change takes time to grow roots and while technology might be fast, but it is slow to achieve a steady level and gain trust with its users. Apart from using technology as an adjunct, our main focus will remain on soft skills focus because the we might have robots in the future, but the world will still need people to pick up the phone and talk on the Quit line.

Dr. Dikha, what’s the plan for the future?

ATTAC’s goal is to increase the number of people we can reach out to, be it – wider area of reach by arranging health camps and public health talks or setting up of Tobacco Cessation Centres in each district easily accessible by the patient.

Our first and foremost plan is to expand our network. Rope in healthcare leaders, advisors and similar minded people to tackle the problem in a multi-disciplinary fashion and launch our mHealth cessation app for validation tests.

We will also be working closely with the Uttar Pradesh State Government on ensuring awareness in the younger age groups with their school programmes and helping the ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activists) and ANM’s (Auxiliary Nurse Midwife) get trained in tobacco cessation counselling, since they are India’s doorstep health workers.

Thank you Dr. Sumedha and Dr. Dikha for your enlightening answers and highly commendable engagement

Health Breaking News 337

Health Breaking News Links, as part of the research project PEAH (Policies for Equitable Access to Health), aim to focus on the latest challenges by trade and governments rules to equitable access to health in resource-limited settings

Health Breaking News 337

 

WHO: public health round up 

Artificial Intelligence: Wild Card To Address Global Health Issues 

Almost 2,000 Ebola cases confirmed in DR Congo as crisis worsens 

DRC Ebola: latest numbers as of 5 June 2019 

Large Ebola outbreaks new normal, says WHO 

Genetically modified fungus hailed as malaria breakthrough 

The case for robust tobacco control: strengthening tobacco tax and trade policy 

Heated tobacco products – No smoke without fire? 

Tobacco as an ‘offensive interest’ in trade talks? The role of rules of origin 

European Union Review of Pharmaceutical Incentives: Suggestions for Change 

Comparison of essential medicines lists in 137 countries 

Dept. of Fine Print: Who Benefits Most When Pharmaceutical Companies Donate Product? 

The Nagoya protocol and research on emerging infectious diseases 

Otto Cars: reacting to antimicrobial resistance 

More than 1 million new curable sexually transmitted infections every day 

Water, sanitation and hygiene: measuring gender equality and empowerment 

Delivering human rights and the SDGs: Does IMF Conditionality pass muster? 

Human Rights Reader 484 

‘Socialism for the rich’: the evils of bad economics 

To Address Disparities, Health Services Research Students Must Understand Inequity, Not Just Inequality 

Not one single country set to achieve gender equality by 2030 

Women Deliver Conference On Gender Equality Grabs Global Attention 

‘Catastrophic’ healthcare costs put mothers and newborns at risk 

Crisis In Care: Year Two Impact of Trump’s Global Gag Rule 

Celebration of World Food Safety Day 

Climate becomes top priority in EU’s 2020 budget 

Mobilisation Needed for Climate-Related Disasters 

Climate Change Could Cost Business Almost $1 Trillion 

We Must do More to Speed up Ending Fossil Fuel Subsidies 

Behind a Search for Breakthrough Ideas to Capture River Plastic Before It Reaches the Ocean