March 28, 2020 by mkukrishna

Letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi

aipsnjsa-lrtoPM

Shri Narendra Modi

Hon’ble Prime Minister of India

South Block, Raisina Hill

New Delhi 110011

25 March 2020

Dear Modi ji,

Access to Free Testing and Free Treatment for COVID-19

The number of people infected with COVID-19 has steadily been increasing globally. As is well recognized, access to screening test and confirmatory diagnostics is an important element of our response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We note that 119 government laboratories that are either operational or in the process of operationalization have been approved for conducting COVID-19 testing. We appreciate that ICMR has also started approving private labs to carry out testing and so far has approved 26 labs in 7 states. The labs network is to cover 15,000 collection points. Efforts in high burden countries have shown a correlation between extensive screening and control of the epidemic, and even of mortality. Testing can also pinpoint “hot spots”, where timely prevention and treatment efforts can be implemented to address the pandemic.

We, therefore, welcome the amendments to the testing strategy through which the eligibility criteria for undergoing diagnostic tests for COVID-19 were expanded to include all hospitalized patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Illness, all symptomatic healthcare workers, and asymptomatic direct and high-risk contacts of a confirmed case (between day 5 and day 14 of coming in contact). The testing strategy needs to be further expanded to all patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Illness or Influenza like illness and not restricted to only hospitalized patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Illness. Further, at specific well chosen sentinel sites within each state, there should be adequate population wide testing with an adequate sampling design so as to understand the actual spread of the disease – and the proportion of infected who are severe, or with mild symptoms and who are asymptomatic.

The Government first diagnosed COVID-19 by Reverse Transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), a molecular technique performed in centralized labs. More portable versions of these molecular diagnostic machines are required to decentralize testing.

We therefore welcome that ICMR has established a fast-track mechanism for validation of non-USFDA/CE approved commercial test kits at ICMR NIV, Pune and is permitting the use of the test kits that are subsequently approved by CDSCO. Further studies to validate the accuracy and quality of these kits should be continued in parallel.

Laboratories in public health systems across the world have had delays in securing reagents. We would in this context like to draw your attention to the absence of local production of reagents and raw materials of reagents, necessary to secure availability of laboratory confirmation and RT-PCR test kits for COVID-19 and other diseases. We request you to mobilize the domestic capacity available with national and the domestic industry for securing the local supply.

Only 3 mass-produced test kits – Altona Diagnostics, Mylab and Seegene–have been approved to date through this process. We understand that several more applications are pending validation by ICMR NIV or will soon seek such validation. Accelerated approval of the test kits is critical to ensure sufficient availability of kits to meet the growing need of testing.

We understand that currently testing is being carried out in the government laboratories through home brewed kits. This is relatively time consuming and expensive too. Many commercial test kits have the potential to deliver faster results and at significantly lower costs.

Therefore it is important to ensure the availability of cheaper and quicker tests that have passed strict validation. Moreover, private labs, where testing has been restricted to only commercial test kits, also require access to the kits. However, the mere availability of tests kits and lab facilities alone will not enable the scaleup of testing under the current testing strategy.

We have serious concerns and question the approach to make patients pay up to Rs. 4500 for testing in private labs because it negates the public health response to the pandemic and creates inequitable access to testing for people who meet the testing criteria. We further understand that test kits developed by Indian companies may significantly reduce costs, and therefore urge appropriate support for scaling up of domestic production to further reduce costs. The ICMR’s call for private labs to provide free testing is unrealistic. Irrespective of whether an individual is tested in a public or a private lab, the Government needs to bear the cost.

The constraints of public health infrastructure will make the use of the private sector necessary for testing as well as treatment. As infection spreads, and particularly at the stage of community spread, it is inevitable that more private sector hospitals and laboratories will be pressed into action.

We appreciate that the Government has already instructed for COVID-19 related expenses to be covered under government-sponsored insurance schemes such as Ayushman Bharat. However, the majority of the population is outside the purview of government schemes and lacks access to health insurance that would cover COVID-19, and would be vulnerable to catastrophic expenditure and potential exploitation in the private sector.

Therefore, we urge the Government to announce and follow a free test and free treatment policy in dealing with this public health emergency, and make the necessary cost-sharing arrangements with the private sector for its services. Such a responsible approach would enable the Government to fulfill its duty in protecting peoples’ health and also ease any overwhelming burden on the public sector, enhancing our collective efforts to contain the disease.

We request you to instruct the relevant Government ministries and offices to:

immediately ensure testing for COVID-19 as per the testing protocol in private laboratories free of charge to patients, with reporting of test data to appropriate centres
mandate all test results should be made publicly accessible and put in an open repository
make necessary arrangements to extend treatment for COVID-19 even in private healthcare institutions at no cost to patients
provide for full disclosure of the prices at which test kits are being supplied by each
manufacturer as well as the costs of testing in public and private laboratories
accelerate the evaluation of pending applications of RT-PCR test kits for COVID-19 and
subsequent approval by CDSCO of kits passing validation, and provide appropriate support for scaling up production to reduce costs
ensure timely procurement and supply of test kits approved by CDSCO for supply to Government and approved private laboratories for testing
take urgent steps to secure supplies and to promote local production of reagents, raw material of reagents, and other physical components used such as swabs which are used in testing

We urge you to expedite the action of the Government on our proposals provided through this letter.

Sincerely,

Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA)

All India Drug Action Network (AIDAN)

All India Peoples Science Network (AIPSN)

Copy to:

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Hon’ble Minister, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW)

Dr. Balram Bhargava, Secretary DHR & Director General ICMR, MOHFW

Dr. Priya Abraham, Director, ICMR National Institute of Virology (NIV)

Ms. Preeti Sudan, Secretary, MOHFW

Dr. V. G. Somani, Drugs Controller General of India, Central Drugs Standard Control Organization

(CDSCO), MOHFW

Dr. S. Eswara Reddy, Joint Drugs Controller (India), CDSCO

Shri D. V. Sadananda Gowda, Hon’ble Minister, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers

Dr. P. D. Vaghela, Secretary, DOP, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers

Smt. Shubhra Singh, Chairperson, NPPA, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers

Dr. Vinod K. Paul, Member, Niti Aayog

Prof. K VijayRaghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India

Dr. P K Mishra, Principal Secretary to Prime Minister, PMO

Shri P. K. Sinha, Principal Advisor to Prime Minister, PMO

Dr. ShrikarPardeshi, Joint Secretary, PMO

For further information, contact:

Prof. T. Sundararaman, 9971415558, sundararaman.t@gmail.com

Dr. Sulakshana Nandi, 9406090595, sulakshana.nandi@gmail.com

M. Gopakumar, 9372927647, kumargopakm@gmail.com

Malini Aisola, 7838381185, malini.aisola@gmail.com

March 27, 2020 by mkukrishna

Essential Health Services cannot be suspended during the lockdown

English version -AIPSN-JSA-statement-on-lockdown_essential-services

Hindi version -AIPSN-JSA-statement-on-lockdown-of-essential services

Tamil version -AIPSNJSA-Statement-Lockdown-of-essential-services

AIPSN-JSA statement on lockdown_essential services

Essential Health Services cannot be suspended during the lockdown

Jan Swasthya Abhiyan and All India Peoples Science Network

Dated 27 March 2020

Jan Swasthya Abhiyan and All India Peoples Science Network express their deep concern over the poorly implemented lockdown, especially the closing of regular clinical services in public hospitals

The number of positive COVID-19 cases in India stand close to 640 with 17 deaths as on 26 March 2020 and it is increasing at a substantial rate everyday, with new cases being reported from every part of the country. This is a relatively high number given the limited numbers tested and the very limited scope of testing. There is therefore a high probability that the spread of the disease is being seriously underestimated.

As a way of combatting further spread, the Prime Minister announced complete lockdown across the country for the next 21 days starting midnight March 24. While the central government initially recommended lockdowns only in 75 districts from where positive COVID-19 cases or deaths were reported, the same has been extended to the whole country now. While lockdown may be a good strategy to ‘flattern the curve” and buy some time, there is a consensus among public health experts that it will not be effective if it is not accompanied by other public health measures like testing of suspected cases, isolation of cases and contacts, and tracing of possible contacts. There is little evidence to suggest that lockdowns alone can control this viral pandemic. We note that despite early lockdowns in Spain and France, these nations have seen an unprecedented increase in the number of cases and deaths. There are however, examples of countries like South Korea and Taiwan which have successfully controlled the outbreak by employing extensive testing, selective lockdown of “hot spots”, isolation and tracing, instead of imposing a complete lockdown. The Indian government seems to have gone into an overdrive by hastily implementing nationwide lockdown without giving much emphasis on either strengthening the health system or adopting public health measures. There is also not enough preparation for a surge in hospital cases and critical care requirements that need to be anticipated.

JSA and AIPSN also note that Western European nations that have undertaken lock downs have a high level of social security systems in places and these ameliorate the burden on the working people and the poor that the lockdown imposes. The vast majority of the population in India has no social security , and has to depend on government relief. While the central government has recently announced a Rs 1.7 lakh crore package and states have announced some relief measures, they are not adequate to address the huge humanitarian crisis that is unfolding due to the lockdown. There is need for more financial and food support measures to daily wage earners, migrant labourers and artisans who are losing their jobs and livelihoods. Moreover in many parts of the country, the lockdown is implemented forcefully, with people who are forced to come out, being beaten up by hostile and uninformed mobs or harassed by the police. Even grocery shops and vegetable vendors are being harassed though they are categorized as essential services. There are reports of medical professionals and health workers and healthcare support staff being beaten while on their way to work. The suspension of public transport without making any alternative arrangements has resulted in patients, including patients undergoing dialysis, chemotherapy etc. not being able to reach healthcare services. The impact of the lockdown is especially severe on the elderly and people with disability.

One of the most worrying dimensions of this lockdown is the adverse impact on existing healthcare services. We have received reports of closure of regular out-patient services in some of the leading tertiary care hospitals under both state and central governments, or planned reductions of on-going hospitalization care to accommodate an expected increase in the number of COVID-19 cases. It is not clear why hospitals should stop all elective or on-going and outpatient care before serious COVID-19 cases arrive. Nor is it clear as to why instead of organizing a separate isolated stream for suspected COVID-19 cases to protect the spread to other patients, denial of essential healthcare becomes the preferred strategy – even at primary healthcare level. We have reports of disruptions in HIV, TB and NCD control programs and child and maternal health servicesthat we would urgently draw the attention of authorities to. Moreover, we should not ignore the immense mental health crisis due to this sudden lockdown and panic that is being instilled in people. It will possibly lead to significant increase in depression, anxiety, suicides and domestic violence and affect health seeking by people which will also have long term consequences.

JSA and AIPSN urge the central and state governments to immediately review the lockdowns imposed across the country and take measures that are backed by science and evidence. There should be clarity on the criteria for lock-downs, what services would be locked down, how long such lock downs would be, and in what geographies this would be implemented. We caution that mathematical models that show lives saved due to early lockdowns have not factored in lives and the basic sustenance livelihoods that would be lost due to the cutback in access to essential services, especially healthcare services, under current lock-down conditions. We caution that on April 14, it is most likely that the incidence of new cases of COVID19 would be continuing, but this should not become the grounds for a mechanical continuation of a nation-wide lockdown, rather, evidence-based graded lockdowns in selected geographies should be considered as per requirement

Even as this report was ready for release we have reports of a huge “distress reverse migration” within the nation. Individuals and families stranded in cities without work, food, housing or security, are forced to trek back home to their distant villages, in the hot sun with no support of food, water, shade or rest, or hitching rides in crowded passing trucks at considerable expense, and subject to hostile action by authorities on the way intent only on imposing the lockdown. Those migrant, unorganized sector and daily wage workers who have been left behind in metros, cities and towns because of the lockdown with no transport available to their native villages/towns, find themselves without income, shelter, and even food, with state governments struggling to cope with the problem in overcrowded relief camps, again exposing these workers to infection. Even before the nationwide lockdown was imposed, anticipating this move and in view of the severe slowdown of economic activity due to industry closures, distancing or other measures, migrant labour and their families were fleeing metros and cities in huge numbers by long, overcrowded train or bus journeys, exposing themselves and others to infection, paying exorbitant amounts for last-mile journeys, and now face hostility, uncertain futures and potential spread of the Covid19 virus in their native villages and towns with already poor health care. This is a huge humanitarian crisis in the making.

With respect to lock-downs, we call on the government to consider the following measures urgently:

1. Impose graded lockdowns only where and when necessary as supported by evidence. This should be implemented in a humane manner supportive of rather than hostile to citizens, along with aggressive mitigation measures.
2. In areas where there are no reported cases of COVID-19, lockdowns are unnecessary and strengthening of surveillance and mitigation should be carried out. If there is a surge of clinically diagnosed or suspected cases of COVID-19, as could be made out from randomized testing, influenza surveillance or other data sources, the government should put this in the public domain so that both healthcare providers who manage such patients and the public could take greater precautions.

Ensure the regular functioning of all routine and regular health services and health programs, irrespective of COVID-19 transmission. These are essential programs that also save millions of lives. Shutting these down would only reduce one cause of death by another. There are patients of HIV, TB, chronic non communicable diseases who must continue to recieve medication and care. We are also deeply concerned about denial of services to those related to maternity and neonatal and paediatric medical care and emergencies. To illustrate our concern we draw attention to the fact that in 2019 an estimated 30,000 women died in pregnancy, 1 million children died of preventable causes under the age of 5, and over 2 lakh persons succumbed to tuberculosis. If routine healthcare services are rolled back these numbers could rise sharply. We reiterate, ALL existing health care services should be actively safeguarded from being adversely affected or cutback during the period of lockdown or in any stage of combatting this pandemic. Orders to the effect that all existing healthcare services must continue should be issued as a priority and widely disseminated by the media.

Hospitals must undertake special arrangements in the outpatient clinics so that all patients are screened for suspected COVID-19, and those that have suggestive symptoms are segregated into a separate flow, social distance within them maintained, and are examined by the medical team without compromising their own safety or that of the suspected case. Similarly isolation wards and ICUs for COVID-19 patients should also ensure segregation such that other patients and healthcare personnel do not get infected. Adequate personal protective equipment should be made available for health workers and other healthcare support staff.
The blanket suspension of public transport must be reviewed and arrangements made for patients to reach health services and health workers and support staff such as sanitary workers, cleaners to reach their place of work.
Support needs to be provided to people experiencing mental health issues through community and online support. Public messaging on this aspect is as important.
There needs to be an immediate mapping of vulnerable households in each area by the local authorities and peripheral health workers (Panchayats, village officers, ward councillors, involvement of local SHGs, ASHAs in this etc). These would include for example elderly living alone, single women led households, households with a sick family member, households with young children etc. etc. These vulnerable households should specially be identified and provided social support in terms of availability of essential supplies, transport for essential medical needs etc.
Local authorities must be empowered to use existing supply chains like PDS to help these vulnerable households and also others in their area to ensure essential supplies. The proposal to deliver essential goods through E-Commerce assumes everyone can avail this and the onus shifts to the individual.
Immediately reach out to migrant families on the road and deploy buses and trains with medical and food relief to get the stranded families safely home.
The announced economic and food security package should be expanded by the central and state governments to minimise the economic hardships to poor and disadvantaged groups due to the lockdowns.

For further information, please contact:

Sundararaman – 9987438253
Raghunandan – 9810098621

Sulakshana Nandi – 9406090595

Sarojini N. – 9818664634

March 25, 2020 by mkukrishna

Weekly Update of Statement 24th March

Weekly Update on COVID-19 24th March 2020

English version -24thMarchAipsnJSAupdate

Hindi version – 24MarchHindiAipsnJSAupdate

Bengali version -24thMarchAipsnJSAupdate

Tamil version – 24thMarchAipsnJSAupdate

Telugu version 24thMarchAipsnJSAupdate

Odiya version- 24thMarchAipsnJSAupdate

The Situation and the Peoples Health Movement response

Issued by

Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA) &

All India People’s Science Network (AIPSN)

Community Transmission of the Corona virus seems to be very possibly well underway and India is now in what was being referred to as stage 3. While there were clear weaknesses in containment during Stage 2, notably delays in restrictions on air passengers entering India and weaknesses particularly in effective home quarantine measures, community transmission was almost inevitable. Containment could only slow down the spread, not prevent it.
We are concerned that the government has not kept the public informed. Part of the problem is that they are limiting announcements of cases to those which have a laboratory diagnosis of COVID-19 disease. But since testing has been very low, the numbers of positive cases announced are also very low. India however has an influenza surveillance system that reports Influenza like illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) which continues to collect data. We believe that this system is reporting a peaking of such illness cases which, implicitly in the current context, are likely to be COVID 19. These reports were in the public domain previously, but the last report now publicly available is of February 23rd. The possible reason for this is may be to prevent panic. However, problem with this approach to data is that it leaves all health care providers across the country unprepared to protect themselves, or to ramp up preparations for the coming surge of cases. It also keeps citizens in the dark and conveys a false sense of security. As a result, we have numerous reports of suspected COVID patients reporting for testing at health facilities but there is currently no segregation or separate patient flows for them. Thus, hospitals could themselves become a major source of spread of infection. There is an urgent need to a) improve provisions for handling COVID 19 patients in the out-patient wards and bring out protocols within the next couple of days and b) re-start putting up district level information in ILI and SARI as reported by healthcare facilities through HMIS in the public domain, c) provide district level information on COVID-19 cases. This would not only help the public, but also the entire preparedness of the healthcare system.

Our working group on health sector preparedness is constituted and would be writing to the government on this. Additionally, at every district and state level we can also intervene with health department.

Our appeal to the government is:

Keep the public informed. We will help you with containing the panic. Please make use of all civil society organizations but especially the people’s health movements, science movements, all trade unions and working peoples organizations to help control panic and help implement what is required now- which is “ISOLATE; TEST, TREAT and TRACE.- supplemented by social distancing”. This cannot be done without very wide support and trust of the people. We, in the people’s health movements caution that lockdowns and social distancing while necessary,, are very temporary, inefficient and incomplete solutions- and should not be projected as the main approach to responding to the epidemic.

This week begins with news that the government has placed a large order for personal protective equipment (PPE), ordered over 5000 ventilators, instructed hospitals to prepare to deal with the expected surge and has started district focused containment action. Every one of these is a step in the right direction. We also note that the DG-ICMR has promised in his press briefing of March 22nd March that we would be increasing the capacity for testing to over 60,000 tests per week. We think that this should have been started two weeks back, but as they say, better late than never. Better information could have enabled more area-focused lockdowns in identified “hot spots”. However we also caution that even these numbers still appear to be too little. . At the minimum testing should include all those in whom COVID19 is a clinical differential diagnosis, as well as extensive testing in select sites (called sentinel surveillance) that would help us understand the proportion of asymptomatic, mild and severe illness in different states.
We are concerned that the government is still on a learning curve in many of these areas, and may recognize the bottlenecks in commodity manufacture, procurement and management only after they encounter it. We in the people’s health movements and science movements along with organizations of working people have set up a working group of those who have long struggled to convince the government to develop Indian manufacturing capacity and trade policies which are consistent with the needs of Indian health security, self-reliance and sovereignty. They know the barriers to procurement that are going to rise and how imports from developed nations is going to become very difficult and unaffordable.

This working group on testing and treating would be issuing advisories to the government, informing the public on developments in these areas, and its members are available to help state and central government at a short notice.

We are also concerned with information of serious deficiencies in the way isolation and quarantine and social distancing are being practiced and imposed. In many contexts because of inability to ensure home quarantine, institutional quarantine should have been considered. There is also a major problem related to human rights. Even in non-authoritarian governments with a liberal understanding of human rights and ethics, at such times abuse of rights are bound to occur and can only be ameliorated by taking feedback and listening to civil society organizations, with a tradition of working on such issues. This is not only for ethical reasons; it is essential for effectiveness of strategies. To give a few examples- people alighting from Mumbai or Delhi airports are stamped to signify home quarantine, opening the door for stigmatization which WHO has warned against. But they may have a full day of travel ahead to reach their homes and can often afford only public transport for that purpose. Or for example, filing FIRs against persons suspected of breaking home quarantine. Or use of unnecessary physical force for isolation.. Or denial of healthcare by hospitals. The range and instances of such abuse multiply. If not quickly curtailed it is going to lead to families and even communities losing their trust and confidence and lead them to hide their illness and exposure history. It would also lead to huge often panic-driven resistance. Government needs to create and keep channels open for the feedback.

Our working group on Physical Distancing and Quarantine would be bringing out information on this in a weekly manner and sharing this with both government and civil society.

Even on social distancing, isolation and home quarantine, the bulk of current messaging addresses only the upper middle class and elite, the same social strata to which administrators and political leaders in decision making belong. They completely miss out and could be irrelevant to the poor and the majority of working people and their families. The messaging also conflates isolation (that only some people can pursue), home quarantine (effective only where public health infrastructure and house-to-house follow-up is strong), and social distancing (which in many situations is more a desirable than feasible solution and on which we cannot have too much expectations). Social distancing messaging should not become an opportunity for blaming the people for the epidemic in their communities, nor shift accountability to the community. And this is said without in any way diminishing the responsibility that individuals and families have in protecting themselves and in preventing further avoidable illness and deaths.

Our working group on community mobilization would be developing and would keep updating advisories in this area to meet the needs of the different sections of working people. It would also build the largest possible coalition to take such information to the people. It would be active in organizing different forms of community support and solidarity.

We also have great concerns regarding the lock-downs. One set of concerns is regarding ethical and rights abuses. Another is on the duration and extent of lock-downs and the lack of evidence to guide such lock-downs. Further, lockdowns were announced in many areas without due notice, leading to panic-buying and mass out-migration of unorganized sector and labourers back to their villages in far-off areas, exposing them to infection in over-crowded trains and buses on the way, and to further infection dangers in rural areas with already weak public health infrastructure. There is need for clarity by the government on the criteria for lockdowns, and assessments that will be done to open the lockdown. The overwhelming public health opinion is that we are in for a long haul and even though the disease may subside within a period, there is all possibility of its coming back. Measures such as suspending Out Patient Departments, people not being able to reach hospitals due to shut down of public transport and so on can have disastrous consequences. Therefore government needs to seriously develop protocols for review and assessment of lockdowns. The most important concern is the huge, devastating economic consequences of such lockdowns on the lives and livelihood of the majority of the population and mostly on the poor, the marginalized and those living on the brink. The country was already going through an unprecedented economic slowdown, loss of jobs and incomes when this crisis happened. And huge degree of handouts to the corporate world and financial capital had weakened the ability of the government to respond to the crisis. Public expenditure on education, healthcare and social welfare had already been compromised and these sectors heavily privatized. This pandemic is thus a disaster coming on top of a system that has been pushed to the brink.

Our working group in this area is working with the people’s science movements and movements of working peoples to articulate the nature of state action as well as community action that is required to prevent and mitigate the social and economic crisis that this pandemic brings about.

As we go to release this statement, news comes in of the 21- day nation-wide lockdown that the government has announced. We are seriously concerned that the government is promoting and pushing lockdowns and social distancing as the only effective method against the pandemic, when the evidence points to social distancing being one among many actions that governments must take, it may be necessary but in itself not sufficient. On lock downs the evidence is far from clear, and we know that nations like South Korea and Taiwan have done well without lock downs. We are appealing to the government to learn from the wide testing, isolation and tracing done in South Korea, and in all successful national control efforts. At best lockdowns buy time for governments to ready their health systems. It is in the latter than the government must focus. We are also appealing to the government to plan its lock downs based on good quality data of where the disease is spreading- and focus its actions in such districts or states, instead of shutting the entire country down. We are concerned at the high-handed and violent methods adopted by the Police and bureaucracy during lockdowns rather than a much needed empathetic attitude. We are also most disturbed by reports that many essential health services including outpatient services and other health programmes such as TB, HIV and maternal health services could be affected by both the lock down and diversion of all resources and attention and efforts to this one disease. Moreover there is absence of any economic and welfare measures for daily-wage earners, unorganized sector workers and out-of-state migrants. The net deaths due to all these collateral effectors of the lock down may outweigh the limited advantage lockdowns can provide.

For further information, please contact:

Sundararaman – 9987438253

Raghunandan – 9810098621

Sarojini N. – 9818664634

Sulakshana Nandi – 9406090595

Follow for regular updates:

Website www.phmindia.org www.aipsn.net

Twitter @jsa_india @gsaipsn

Facebook @janswasthyaabhiyan @allindiapeoplessciencenetwork

March 17, 2020 by mkukrishna

Statement from AIPSN and JSA

To see updates click here 24th March 2nd April 12April

A call to government to ACT NOW- to save lives, to strengthen public health services and to safeguard livelihoods

Issued by

Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA) &

All India People’s Science Network (AIPSN)

From 30 January 2020, when the first case of COVID-19 was reported, till today, March 15, 2020, the number of confirmed cases in India has risen to 107, and there have been two deaths. The government of India has reacted swiftly to this epidemic by curtailing international travel, screening those coming in from abroad and their contacts and either isolating them if they have tested positive or placing them in quarantine if they are asymptomatic. This has no doubt helped delay the epidemic. But as the government knows, the worst is yet to come.

While immediate executive action in the form of isolation of patients and quarantines, and a high pressure campaign for social distance is most welcome, this would not be sufficient if community transmission is established and the pandemic peaks. The country is particularly vulnerable because of a high degree of past neglect of public health services, and the privatization of healthcare. The country is also vulnerable because a large section of population is struggling to meet their minimum basic necessities and the last decade of economic and social policies have pushed them to the brink. In such a social and economic context, this epidemic may prove the last straw and lead to an unprecedented catastrophe unless the government pays heed to the entire charter of demands we present below.

Salient features of the COVID-19 pandemic:

COVID -19 is the name of the disease caused by a particular strain of Coronavirus that has been spreading across the world. In symptoms it is remarkably similar to the seasonal flu and earlier flu and coronavirus pandemics. But it has a mortality rate much higher than the seasonal flu, though lower than the other flu and coronavirus pandemics. Over 81% of those who are infected will have only mild symptoms, another 15 % would have severe symptoms requiring medical consultation and often hospitalization and about 4 per cent would require critical care which may include ventilator support and ICU care. The mortality is highest in those above 80 and this decreases with age. Children are relatively spared.

Though it is considered unlikely that a situation like the one caused by the 1918 flu pandemic will be repeated because of better healthcare systems, it is not impossible. Neither an appropriate drug nor a vaccine is likely to become available within the next few months. Therefore the reliance is still on the age-old measures of isolation, quarantine and social distancing.

Once community transmission is established there would be a sharp increase in the number of cases, and this would be more so if there are many asymptomatic disease-spreaders or a very high susceptibility in the population. This disease could potentially infect 30 to 50% of the current adult population in the country. Even with a lower case fatality rate of 1% to critical care requirement of 4% the weakened public health systems would be overwhelmed and this would lead to millions of excess deaths in the coming year.

We do not know whether community transmission has been established, nor the actual level of spread of the disease because our current scope of testing for the virus is far too limited. In the absence of such testing, clusters of the disease- spread can develop and reach dangerous levels before they are noticed.

However there is a concern that in the name promoting social distancing, the entire burden of accountability for averting the epidemic and preventing loss of life due to it is shifted to the people and within that, the most vulnerable sections. The current approach to pandemic control that leads to shutting down of considerable economic and social activity is unsustainable and at best of temporary benefit. The epidemic peak may occur months later, and not now. Such a delay, or flattening of the epidemic curve as it is known, is useful because it would give time to the government hospitals time to gear up. But if no efforts are made to prepare the hospitals or expand the testing, the delay only leads to prolonged economic and social suffering of the majority with adverse health outcomes deferred but not averted.

The main thing that communities can do is to protect themselves by rapid improvements in health related practices and hygiene. Communities also need to extend solidarity with those who are suffering health-wise or economically due to the epidemic. People’s movements recognize the role they have in both promoting hygiene and in building solidarity.

We call on national and state governments to address both the adverse health outcomes and the adverse impact the control measures are making on the lives and livelihoods of people which are as equally damaging and require mitigation.

A Peoples Charter of Demands- Save Lives, Save Livelihoods and Respect Human Rights:

Based on the understanding that is discussed above (and elaborated in a background paper on the COVID-19 epidemic), the Peoples Science Movements and the Peoples Health Movement adopt the following charter of demands that articulates its understanding and its demands:

Health Care Related:

Government must expand testing facilities and criteria for COVID-19. Testing should not be limited to only those with symptoms who have travelled to certain countries and those who have come in contact with them. Any clinically suspected person should be able to get tested. While containment by isolating patients with the disease, tracing contacts, and quarantining individuals returning from nations with an established outbreak may continue to be relevant for a longer period, the system needs to gear up for addressing community transmission.

Government must rapidly prepare public health services for a surge in patients requiring healthcare and hospitalization by strengthening the public hospitals. This would require, at the very least, one hospital with an ICU; potential isolation wards and ventilators; and oxygen supply in every five to ten lakh population. It would also require corresponding improvement in supply of relevant medicines and consumables such as oxygen and deployment of human resource. We reiterate that such an expansion was anyway long overdue, and this epidemic is an opportunity to rush such preparation through.

In the event that the pandemic becomes a full blown emergency in any part of the country, it would be necessary that all existing medical facilities be brought under a centralised district authority, including all private hospitals. Allocation of medical facilities will have to be done by this authority and not by the market mechanisms. The protocols and administrative and financial measures required for doing so must be put in place as part of epidemic readiness.

Immediate strengthening of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme, by a major increase in capacity to test for this disease, and to report on all seasonal flu and other fever related deaths from across all facilities – public and private. In the absence of such expansion, we caution that the country could even go through an epidemic without knowing it, or could be surprised by large cluster-outbreaks where they are least expected.

As a long term measure we call for establishing a Government Centre for Disease Control in every district which is staffed and facilitated to test, identify and provide alerts and advice precautionary measures for pathogenic attacks like the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Ensure safe working conditions and adequate protective equipment for healthcare and support staff. These are to be provided not only in hospitals but also for frontline workers supporting home quarantine and isolation. This would require that medical tools such as effective facemasks and sterilizing fluids are prioritized for front-line healthcare workers and patients.

Ensure that the distribution of scarce resources in the event of a widespread outbreak should be governed by a clear evaluation of the public health needs, rather than on sales to the highest bidder (this problem emerged with Oseltamivir (Tamiflu) during the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic). International collaboration vis-a-vis developments in medication and vaccines is a must, and care must be taken to prevent patent monopolies from limiting production of potential treatments.

Social Distancing and Human Rights:

Social distancing must necessarily be done by public education and persuasion. The use of coercive measures would be unfair and unhelpful. Mass gatherings, public events, whether social, religious, sports related, cultural or political, could be dissuaded for some time more- but should not be banned.

Active community support and outreach services need to be built up for those in home quarantine, those whose social security benefits are curtailed due to closure or those having difficulties in accessing essential services. Many under home quarantine will have co-morbidities that would require access to follow up care and medication. Many children will need access to supplementary nutrition programs, more so, when their parents’ livelihood is compromised. Shutting down such services without providing for alternatives would be unfair.

When populations are placed under lockdown or quarantine, special measures would need to be in place to ensure that this is done in a humane manner and without abuse to core human rights. Governments need active engagement of human rights institutions and civil society organizations and trade unions to inspect and report back on standards of care and the problems that the most vulnerable sections are facing.

The freedom of the media to report on the epidemic and its consequences must be safeguarded at all times. However when carrying messages on the nature of spread, the source of infection or on treatment, news media must be encouraged to keep to the parameters set by government channels, international health institution channels, or of universities and research institutions. Where information is from any other sources, the news must be accompanied by a disclaimer that this is unverified and could be fake. Any blanket ban on media freedoms is unwarranted and should be resisted.

Redressing Economic Inequity- as cause and consequence:

Maintenance of routine economic activity, which primarily means safeguarding of the livelihoods of the majority, should also be acknowledged and acted upon as a public health priority. Public education should also address the need to build solidarity in such times. The working people and poor take a much larger economic hit due to disruption of livelihoods than the salaried section and the affluent, and this should be acknowledged. There has to be active community support and support from employers to those in home quarantine and those whose livelihoods are compromised by these lockdowns.

There must be an immediate increase in public expenditure that leads to widespread demand-side support in the form of increased social security and food security measures such as enhancement of entitlement under the Public Distribution System (PDS), and cash transfers. This is urgently required to address the attack on livelihoods of the majority that have already been compromised by a decade of economic policies that intensified capital accumulation, but destroyed livelihoods. Further concessions to corporate industry to counter the crisis they are also facing, and further austerity for the working people would be most counter-productive and iniquitous.

January 5, 2020 by mkukrishna

National Convention of AIPSN on Medical Education and Strengthening of Public Health Care Services

The Health Sub-Committee of AIPSN recently organised a National Convention on Medical Education and
Strengthening of Public Health Care Services on 21 and 22 December in Hyderabad.

The meeting hosted by Jana Vignana Vedika- Telangana, had around 100 participants from 15 states of the country. The convention was an avenue to discuss creative approaches to address the issues of medical education and public provisioning of healthcare.

Click on the links given below for the details

Concept Note https://aipsn.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/AIPSNHealthDec2019-1concept-note.pdf
Schedule of meeting AIPSNHealthDec2019-2Schedule
Writeup on technical matters AIPSNHealthDec2019-3Writeup

Presentations

Day 1 : talk1, talk2, talk3, talk4

AIPSNHealthDec2019-1.1 Public Health and Disruption- Prasada Rao

AIPSNHealthDec2019-1.2Saving&StrengtheningPublicHealthServices

AIPSNHealthDec2019-1.3UHC-HWC

AIPSNHealthDec2019-1.4 TRIBAL HEALTH CHALLENGES- Ram Kishan

Day 2 : talk1, talk2, talk3, talk4, talk5

AIPSNHealthDec2019-2.1 Universal Health Coverage

AIPSNHealthDec2019-2.2De-privatisation in healthcare in India

AIPSNHealthDec2019-2.3 access to medicines

AIPSNHealthDec2019-2.4 mobilising to save public services- Abhay Shukla

AIPSNHealthDec2019-2.5 Right to Health- Sundararaman T

July 30, 2019 by mkukrishna

AIPSN feedback on DNEP 2019

Feedback from AIPSN on Draft National Education Policy (DNEP) 2019

The feedback (click here) on the policy and the committee report is submitted by AIPSN to the nation based on the inputs drawn from the experts researching on education, the teachers working in the field of education and the scientists and technologists working in the AIPSN member organizations.

The feedback is given in three parts: Part 1 gives an Overview. Part 2 provides domain wise critique. Part 3 covers final remarks and demands. Those providing the inputs for this submission of AIPSN have actively worked with the member organizations of AIPSN in the field of education and research for several years. A summary (click here) of all the points made here has been provided separately. In addition points for an alternate proposal (click here) have also been put forward in another document along with this critique.

It is significant that even when the experts chose to acknowledge the observations made by the committee, they could not find much merit in the diagnosis or in the solutions offered through its proposals. They remained of the view that the committee has made not only many impractical or illogical recommendations but several proposals are dangerous and can harm the system of education. AIPSN is therefore providing also the ideas for the formulation of alternate policy proposals for an active consideration of the Union Government. AIPSN is committed to discuss the policy and the alternate proposals received for the mobilization of the public through the associations and platforms active in the field of education.

April 11, 2019 by mkukrishna

TN Academicians appeal to the public on the eve of Elections 2019

English , Tamil

*Vote for Constitutional Values, Diversity and Inclusive Society
*Prevent Suicidal Increase of Economic Inequality
*Vote for creating a Healthy, Rational and Scientific Tamil Nadu and India

Dear Friends,
In a few weeks from now, we would elect the 17th Lok Sabha. This is an important duty that would determine our country’s future and that of the “Idea of India”.

We, as academics, work or have worked in institutions of research and learning. These institutions of learning and research are the places where different schools of thought have to contend, with freedom and without fear. In contrast, a climate of fear has been created in institutions of higher education that discourages questioning and critical thinking.

From the systematic attacks on independent academic functioning in highly regarded universities like JNU to what has been described as the institutional murder of Rohith Vemula at the Central University of Hyderabad, central universities are being obstructed when discharging their academic duties. From unacceptable threats to criminal physical assault, a range of coercive measures have been unleashed by the elements seeking to destroy pluralism, secularism and diversity which are so central to the idea of India. Atrocities against religious minorities, dalits and women in the name of upholding “nationalism” have been witnessed in other universities too, including in Delhi, Rajasthan, Chandigarh, Jadavpur, Allahabad, the BHU and the AMU and many other places

These atrocities, deplorable as they were, are known to have happened under instigation and support of the ruling party at the centre and its ministers. The elements executing these atrocities have unfortunately been protected and encouraged by the ruling dispensation.
While these above events are visible, a surreptitious attempt is going on to change the character of our institutions, in various ways: by appointments of heads of institutions, by curbing funds, by ensuring promotion of obscurantist ideas, etc.
The NCERT has taken up the task to promote the RSS’s pet projects to introduce in the text book, topics of dubious provenance and has recently removed chapters that include accounts about peasants and farmers and class and caste relations and struggles. In the area of higher education, the appointment of a person known for his links to the RSS, as the Vice Chancellor of the prestigious Jawaharlal University is a prime example of the ruling government’s assault on higher education. It is to be noted that 93% of the JNU faculty had protested against this Vice-Chancellor’s undemocratic methods.
The system of higher education is being greatly weakened by the promotion of obscurantism, irrationality and aggressive communalism by the ruling dispensation.

Equally important, the regime’s policies involve the most aggressive privatization, centralization and corporatization of education, as seen in their New Education Policy and the HECI Bill, both of which have met widespread public protest. These lay bare the plans to place academic bodies at the mercy of the government.

An appointee of the NDA government, Chairman of the Indian Council of Social Science Research targets eminent intellectuals critical of the wrong doings of the regime just as the finance minister the other day accused more than a hundred distinguished economists seeking greater credibility and transparency of government statistical bodies of being “fake” economists.
Senior researchers as well as doctoral scholars get little funding for quality research. This is true not just in social sciences but also in natural and physical sciences.

The government makes tall claims of India being made a Superpower but does not spend even 0.6% of the GDP on Science and Technology.
Beyond the world of academia, the regime’s economic policies have caused massive destruction of livelihoods in the informal sector which accounts for more than 90% of our workforce and more than 40% of our national output.

The draconian act of demonetization and the ham handed introduction of GST have caused havoc. They have led not only to a decline in the rate of growth of GDP, but a massive growth in unemployment by destroying the employment-intensive informal sector. Unemployment is soaring, as revealed both by the most recent government survey report (the release of which has been blocked by the government) and the private agency the Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy (CMIE).
More than a hundred people died in the aftermath of demonetization while not a penny of black money was recovered. Across rural India, the agrarian crisis has worsened, with a steep fall in prices of agricultural produce even while farmers in hundreds of thousands have marched across the nation seeking justice and an end to policies that compel famers to commit suicide.

In the past five years the ruling dispensation has subverted the constitution and various democratic institution rights from Supreme Court to RBI. Even the election commission has not spared. The ruling party has used the colonial law on sedition to surprise voices of dissent.
While the situation is grim, it is not without hope. The struggles of the farmers, the massive protests of various sections of employees and workers, both in the states and at the all India level, of women, of dalits and the scheduled tribes, of religious minorities under murderous attack from goons patronized by the ruling dispensation – all these give us hope in the resilience of the Indian people. But we cannot be complacent.

We, the socially concerned academics, whose education has been made possible by the taxes that our working people pay when they buy any good or service, owe it to them and to ourselves to ensure that India remains secular and democratic and its higher educational system gets strengthened in its pursuit of science and critical inquiry. We cannot allow people who express dissent or question the system to be termed anti-nationals.

The first step in this process is to ensure that the coming elections result in a regime that stands by the Constitution of India. The Indian constitution, the product of our freedom struggle, proclaims in the preamble, India to be a Secular, Sovereign, Socialist, Democratic Republic.
The rise of organized regressive forces in the last several years – committed to destroying the Constitutional values – has to be challenged and stopped forthwith without any reservation.

List of signatories 1. Dr.M. Anandakrishnan, Former Vice-Chancellor Anna University, Chennai, Former Chairman IIT Kanpur. 2. Justice Hari Paranthaman, Former Judge of Madras High Court, Chennai. 3. Mr. M.G. Devasahayam, I.A.S (Retd), 4. Dr. S. S.Rajagopalan, Educationist, Chennai. 5. Dr.V. Vasanthi Devi, Former Vice-Chancellor, MS University. 6. Dr.M. Rajendran, Former Vice-Chancellor Tamil University. 7. Dr.K.A. Manikumar, Ex. Vice-Chancellor, Swami Vivekanda University, M.P. 8. Mr. R. Poornalingam, I.A.S (Retd), 9. Mr. P.Vijayashankar, Editor, Frontline. 10. Dr.S. Sathikh, Former Vice-Chancellor University of Madras. 11. Dr. Ponnavaiko, Former Vice-Chancellor, Bharathidasan University. 12. Dr. S.Theodore Baskaran, Writer. 13. Mr. P.B. Prince Gajendra Babu, Educationist, General Secretary, SPCSS. 14. Dr.K. Nagaraj, Professor (Retd) MIDS, Chennai . 15. Dr. R. Ramanujam, Professor, Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai. 16. Dr. Enakshi Bhattacharya, Professor, IIT Madras, Chennai. 17. Dr, Ayan Mudhopadhyay, Associate Professor, IIT Madras, Chennai. 18. Dr. Suresh Govindharajan, Professor IIT Madras, Chennai. 19. Dr.K. Jothi Sivagnanam, Professor, Dept of Economics, University of Madras. 20. Dr. Sridhar, Economist, Frontline. 21. Dr. Y. Srinivasa Rao, Professor, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappali. 22. Dr.V.B. Athreya, Economist, Professor (Retd) Bharathidasan University. 23. Dr.R. Kaleeswaran, Professor, Dept of Art and Literary, Loyola college, Chennai. 24. Dr. V.Jeevanandam, Environmental Activist cum Medical Doctor. 25. Dr. C.S. Rex Sargunam, Medical Doctor and President, Tamil Nadu Health Development Association. 26. Dr.Era. Natarasan , Science Writer and Educationist. 27. Mr.Su.Ki. Jayakaran , Geologist and Writer. 28. Dr.S. Janakarajan, Professor (Retd), MIDS. 29. Dr.T. Chandraguru, Professor (Retd) and Former Syndicate Member, MKU 30. Dr.S. Kochadai, Professor and writer. 31. Dr.G.C.Manoharan, Librarian (Retd), Mannar Thirumalai Nayakar. college, Madurai 32. Prof.S. Mohana, Professor (Retd), Palani Aandavar Arts college, Palani. 33. Dr. R. Murali, Professor (Retd) and Former Principal Madura College, Madurai. 34. Dr.V. Natarjan, Scientist (Retd), IGCAR, Kalpakkam . 35. Prof. S. Ramasubramanian, Writer, Professor (Retd), Government Arts College, Tiruvannamalai. 36. Dr.K. Ramakrishnan, Professor (Retd), Bharathiar University 37. Dr.Mu Ramaswamy, Dramatist, Professor (Retd), Tamil University. 38. Dr. R. Rukmani, Scientist (Retd), MSSRF, Chennai. 39. Dr. A. Sankarasubramanian, Professor (Retd), Government Arts College, Salem. 40. Dr. S. Sankaralingam, State Vice President, PUCL. 41. Dr.V. Sridhar, Scientist (Retd), IGCAR, Kalpakkam. 42. Dr.Mu. Thirumavalavan, Former Principal Government Arts College, Viyasarpadi, Chennai. 43. Dr.R. Usha, Professor (Retd), Madurai Kamaraj University. 44. Prof. P. Vijayakumar (Retd), Saraswathi Narayan College, Madurai 45. Prof. Prabha Kalvi Mani, Makkal Kalvi Eyakkam. 46. Prof.A. Marx, Writer, Chennai 47. Dr.R. Chandra, Professor (Retd), UD College, Thiruchy. 48. Prof. K. Raju, Editor, Pudhiya Aasiriyan. 49. Dr. V. Ponraj, Former Principal, MTT Hindu College, Tirunelveli. 50. Dr. A.James Willams, Professor (Retd) and Former All India President, AIFUCTO. 51. Dr. I.P. Kanagasundaram, Former Principal, District Institute of Education and Training. 52. Dr. P. Rathnasabhapathi, Retired Professor of Tamil, Chennai 53. Dr. P.Murugaiyan, Principal (Retd), Sivanthai College of Education, Chennai. 54. Dr. S. Jayshankar, Principal (Retd), Sri Vasavi College, Erode. 55. Dr. S.Hema, Professor (Retd), Holycross College, Trichy. 56. Dr. V.Murugan, Professor (Retd), Vivekanandha College, Chennai.

Appeal Move Initiated By: 57. Dr. S. Krishnaswamy, Senior Professor (Retd), Madurai Kamaraj University. 58. Prof.P. Rajamanickam (Retd), Saraswathi Narayan College, Madurai and General Secretary AIPSN 59. Dr. N. Mani, Professor and Head, Dept of Economics, Erode Arts college, Erode. 60. Dr.T.R. Govindarajan, Professor (Retd), Institute of Mathematical Sciences Chennai.

April 5, 2019 by mkukrishna

More than 150 Scientists Appeal to Citizens

https://www.newsclick.in/More-150-Scientists-Appeal-Citizens

More than 150 Scientists Appeal to Citizens

An atmosphere in which scientists, activists and rationalists are hounded, harassed, intimidated, censored, jailed, or worse, murdered, is not the future our country deserves.

Indian Cultural Forum

03 Apr 2019

The upcoming election is a crucial one. It asks for a re-affirmation of the most fundamental guarantees our Constitution gives us: equal rights to faith or lack thereof; culture; language; association; personal liberty and freedom of expression. These rights, even as they accrue to each of us individually, can only exist if they accrue to all Indian citizens — without partiality or discrimination.

To defend these rights, we must reject those who lynch or assault people, those who discriminate against people because of religion, caste, gender, language or region. Again, we must reject those who encourage such practices. We cannot endorse a politics that divides us, creates fears, and marginalises a large fraction of our society — women, dalits, adivasis, religious minorities, the persons with disabilities or the poor. Diversity is our democracy’s greatest strength; discrimination and non-inclusivity strike at its very foundation.

An atmosphere in which scientists, activists and rationalists are hounded, harassed, intimidated, censored, jailed, or worse, murdered, is not the future our country deserves. It is not the future we want to give our youth. We want them to awaken to a country that sees science as a means of democratic empowerment through sceptical, open-minded questioning, rather than just a commercial enterprise. We must put an end to the denigration of rational, evidence-based public discourse; only then can we create better resources and opportunities for jobs, education and research.

We appeal to all citizens to vote wisely, weighing arguments and evidence critically. We appeal to all citizens to remember our constitutional commitment to scientific temper. We appeal to you to vote against inequality, intimidation, discrimination, and unreason. These are inimical to the values of our Constitution, whose promise is best reflected in Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s famous words:

“Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high

Where knowledge is free

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls

Where words come out from the depth of truth

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way

Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit

Where the mind is led forward by thee

Into ever-widening thought and action

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.”

1	A. Mani	53	Geetha Venkataraman	105	Ramesh Awasthi
2	Aaloka Kanhere	54	Gyan Prakash	106	Ramkumar Sambasivan
3	Abha Dev Habib	55	Harita Raval	107	Ramya T. N. C.
4	Abhijit Majumder	56	Harjinder (Laltu) Singh	108	Riddhi Shah
5	Adish Dani	57	Imrana Qadeer	109	Rohini Karandikar
6	Ajit M. Srivastava	58	J. G. Krishnayya	110	Rohini Muthuswami
7	Akash Gautam	59	Jagat K Roy	111	Rupali Gangopadhyay
8	Amala Bhave	60	Jayashree Ramadas	112	Sabyasachi Chatterjee
9	Amit Apte	61	Jayashree Sen Gupta	113	Saman Habib
10	Amit Bhaya	62	Joby Joseph	114	Samriddhi Sankar Ray
11	Amit Misra	63	Jyotishman Bhowmick	115	Samudrala Gourinath
12	Amitabh Joshi	64	Jyotsna Dhawan	116	Saroj Ghaskadbi
13	Amitabha Bandyopadhyay	65	Kapil Paranjape	117	Satyajit Mayor
14	Amites Dasgupta	66	Karthikeyan Vasudevan	118	Satyajit Rath
15	Aniket Sule	67	Kartik Shanker	119	Shailaja Sopory
16	Anindita Bhadra	68	Kumarjit Saha	120	Shanta Laishram
17	Anirban Mukherjee	69	L. S. Shashidhara	121	Shivprasad Patil
18	Ankan Paul	70	Madan Rao	122	Shobha Madan
19	Anna George	71	Madhavi Reddy	123	Shraddha Kumbhojkar
20	Anup Padmanabhan	72	Madhulika Srivastava	124	Shubhi Parolia
21	Argha Banerjee	73	Manisha Gupte	125	Sitabhra Sinha
22	Arjun Guha	74	Mayank Vahia	126	Smita Krishnan
23	Arnab Bhattacharya	75	Mayurika Lahiri	127	Sorab Dalal
24	Asha Gopinathan	76	Medha S. Rajadhyaksha	128	Spenta Wadia
25	Atindra N. Pal	77	Mercy J Raman	129	Srikanth Sastry
26	Aurnab Ghose	78	Mihir Arjunwadkar	130	Sriram Ramaswamy
27	Avinash Dhar	79	Mohan Rao	131	Subhadip Ghosh
28	Ayalvadi Ganesh	80	Mrinal K Ghosh	132	Subhadip Mitra
29	Ayan Banerjee	81	Mugdha Karnik	133	Subhash C. Lakhotia
30	Bidisa Das	82	Mundur V. N. Murthy	134	Suchitra Gopinath
31	Chayanika Shah	83	Nandita Narain	135	Sudeshna Sinha
32	Chetana Sachidanandan	84	Naresh Dadhich	136	Sudipto Muhuri
33	Chinmayee Mishra	85	Nisha Biswas	137	Sugata Ray
34	Chinmoy Chatterjee	86	Niti Kumar	138	Sugra Chunawala
35	Debabrata Ghosh	87	Nixon Abraham	139	Sumeet Agarwal
36	Debashis Ghoshal	88	Pallavi Vibhuti	140	Sumilan Banerjee
37	Debashis Mukherjee	89	Partho Sarothi Ray	141	Surendra Ghaskadbi
38	Debashish Goswami	90	Prabhakar Rajagopal	142	Swapan Chakrabarti
39	Deepak Barua	91	Prabir Purkayastha	143	Tapan Ghosh
40	Deepika Choubey	92	Pradip Dasgupta	144	Tapan Saha
41	Devaki Kelkar	93	Pradipta Bandyopadhyay	145	Tejal Kanitkar
42	Dibyendu Nandi	94	Prajval Shastri	146	Tushar Vaidya
43	Dinesh Abrol	95	Prakash Burte	147	V. S. Sunder
44	Dinu Chandran	96	Pranay Goel	148	Vidita Vaidya
45	Dipshikha Chakravortty	97	Prasad Subramanian	149	Vijay Chandru
46	Dipti Jadhav	98	R. Ramanujam	150	Vineeta Bal
47	Divya Oberoi	99	Raghav Rajan	151	Vivek Borkar
48	Gagandeep Kang	100	Raghunath Chelakkot	152	Vivek Monteiro
49	Gaiti Hasan	101	Rahul Roy
50	Gauhar Raza	102	Rahul Siddharthan
51	Gautam Menon	103	Rajiva Raman
52	Geeta Mahashabde	104	Rama Govindarajan

March 27, 2019 by mkukrishna

Peoples Health manifesto-2019 by Jan Swasthiya Abhiyan (People’s Health Movement India)

Peoples Health manifesto-2019 by JSA

As the General Elections-2019 are fast approaching, Jan Swasthya Abhiyan activists are pushing the political structures to address the issues plaguing people’s health by releasing a ‘People’s Health Manifesto-2019’

The manifesto demands increasing the public expenditure on health to 3.5 per cent of the GDP in the short-term and absorbing the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme—based on the discredited ‘insurance model’—under a strengthened, well-funded public health system and a right to health act which includes a patients charter.

Click here to read and download the People’s Health Manifesto-2019 in English

Click Here to read and download the People’s Health Manifesto-2019 in Hindi

Click Here to know about Jan Swasthiya Abhiyan (JSA) – People’s Health Movement India

The feedback (click here) on the policy and the committee report is submitted by AIPSN to the nation based on the inputs drawn from the experts researching on education, the teachers working in the field of education and the scientists and technologists working in the AIPSN member organizations.

English , Tamil

People’s Manifesto on Literacy and Education

Please see here in English , Hindi , Odiya , Tamil , Telegu