Dr. Krishna Reddy Nallamalla and Dr. Uma Aysola represented ACCESS Health International at AsiaXchange, an event in New Delhi organized by The Rockefeller Foundation to bring together all their partners in the Asia region. The focus of the event was the Rockefeller Foundation's new 'OneRF' climate strategy and identifying and accelerating opportunities for climate action in Asia. The event was also a chance to explore opportunities for collaboration and to realize those opportunities as seen through the work of the GLC4HSR on Climate Change and Health. Over 150 participants traveled from across Asia to participate in the event and saw a wealth of knowledge sharing and collaboration. The Rockefeller Foundation also thoughtfully marked the presence of Dr. Reddy and Dr. Aysola at the event by planting a tree each in their names for tigers at the Sundarbans National Park in India. The Rockefeller Foundation provided the seed grant for the Global Learning Collaborative for Health Systems Resilience. GLC4HSR brings together a network of health systems experts, practitioners, and policymakers with a shared vision of building resilient and improved health systems. ACCESS Health International serves as the Secretariat. .
Using CMEs To Boost Access To Quality Tertiary Care In Uttar Pradesh
Medical colleges are pivotal in providing quality tertiary care to people from across the social strata in India. In Uttar Pradesh, they constitute an integral part of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) which services over three crore beneficiaries. To augment service delivery under the scheme and boost the participation of medical colleges in PM-JAY, ACCESS Health-the technical partner for SACHIS, the state health agency implementing the scheme in Uttar Pradesh-has been working towards piloting a model with four premier medical colleges. Through this pilot, ACCESS Health is facilitating the Continuing Medical Education (CME) of the medical colleges with the aid of private partners. With an aim to build capacities-both for standard treatment guidelines (STGs) under PM-JAY and advanced diagnostics for quality care-two CME workshops have been conducted so far in collaboration with Pathkind Diagnostics Private Limited. The first workshop was conducted at Maharani Lakshmi Bai Medical College Jhansi, where a session on advanced diagnostics for treating tuberculous was helmed by Pathkind for over 60 doctors from the institute. MRA Medical College in Ambedkar Nagar was chosen for the second workshop that was conducted virtually and saw the participation of close to 40 doctors. Easing challenges stemming from diagnostic gaps is one of the key objectives of this pilot intervention with medical colleges in Uttar Pradesh, and the CME workshops are a step in that direction. The workshops also use real examples from the claims generated by the medical colleges to identify errors and omissions in the adherence of STGs and demonstrate how to avoid them. These hand-holding sessions aim to provide clarity on process-oriented nuances of PM-JAY in order to speed up claim adjudication process and thus the release of payments to the medical colleges. These two workshops are the first in a series of CME sessions planned by ACCESS Health for the pilot medical colleges in Uttar Pradesh.
ACCESS Health International participates in an UNGA 78 Side Meeting on Pandemic Preparedness
Dr. Krishna Reddy was recently invited to speak at a high-level side meeting of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 78) in New York. The side meeting Actualizing a Whole-of-Society Approach in Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response (PPPR) was co-organized by several prominent organizations, including the Center for Indonesia’s Strategic Development Initiatives (CISDI), PHC Forum, Pandemic Action Network, The Global Public Investment Network, and Joep Lange Institute. The meeting’s objectives were threefold: to shed light on opportunities and challenges associated with adopting a comprehensive whole-of-society approach for global PPPR, to explore new public norms emphasizing community-centered multilateralism, and to unite diverse stakeholders in promoting equitable and sustainable global health security governance. Dr. Reddy spoke about the urgent need to identify and address the bottlenecks hindering the realization of a more inclusive global PPPR, particularly from the perspective of the Global South. He emphasized the importance of a family-like global perspective, where nations seek complementarity. Dr. Reddy also highlighted evolving governance concepts and the critical role of private sector engagement. Finally, he advocated for strengthening financial management systems, south-south cooperation, and adaptive frugal innovations to bolster global health resilience. The side meeting also featured a distinguished lineup of speakers including Ms. Diah S. Saminarsih, representing the Center for Indonesia’s Strategic Development Initiatives (CISDI), who elaborated on the crucial role of civil society organizations in shaping the global health agenda. Ms. Priya Basu, from the Pandemic Fund/World Bank, provided a thought-provoking case study on leveraging investments from countries at varying income levels in global health governance through the Pandemic Fund. Dr. Caren Grown of the Brookings Institution shared her expertise in intentionally inclusive and gender-responsive PPPR strategies. Dr. Mercy Mwangangi, representing Amref Health Africa, discussed the convergence of climate strategies with PPPR, emphasizing the interconnection of these critical issues. Ms. Solange Baptiste, from the Global Public Investment Network (GPIN), underscored the significance of global public investment in building community resilience for responding to public health emergencies.
Dr. William Haseltine receives the 2023 IHV Lifetime Achievement Award
ACCESS Health International Chair and CEO, Dr. William Haseltine recently received the 2023 Institute of Human Virology 25th Anniversary Lifetime Achievement Award for Scientific Contributions and Drug Development. Prior to founding ACCESS Health International. Dr. Haseltine helped create the biotechnology companies ProScript Inc. which developed a treatment for multiple myeloma and other cancers, and Dendreon which developed the first approved cell-based cancer therapy for treating metastatic prostate cancer. Haseltine co-founded Human Genome Sciences, which developed a number of drugs for treating diabetes and its complications, cancers, obesity, and anthrax. After completing the sequence of the HIV genome, Dr. Haseltine’s laboratory then showed that damage to certain viral genes killed the virus, identifying good antiviral drugs. The first HIV-specific protease inhibitor, Nelfinavir, was developed as a part of a collaboration between the Haseltine laboratory, Cambridge BioSciences - another company founded by Dr. Haseltine -, and Agouron Pharmaceuticals. He founded additional biotechnology companies including The Virus Research Institute, LeukoSite, Diversa, X-VAX, and Demetrix. Dr. Haseltine successfully advocated for Congress to HIV/AIDS research through the NIH. He publicly advocated for destigmatizing HIV infection. He played an important early role in creating the International Society for AIDS Research, now the International AIDS Society, and was the Founding Editor of the scientific journal AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses. Dr. Haseltine went on to co-found E-Biomed: The Journal of Regenerative Medicine and The Society for Regenerative Medicine to help expand the field of regenerative medicine.
GLC4HSR holds a workshop on reforming surveillance systems
The GLC4HSR held a two-day workshop on Building Back Better Surveillance Systems with the Tata Institute for Genetics and Society, India (TIGS) at the TIGS campus in Bengaluru. With over 100 in-person attendees and over 60 online attendees, the workshop proved to be a successful knowledge-sharing initiative. The event brought together experts from various fields to discuss the critical importance of enhancing surveillance systems in today’s evolving landscape. It explored innovative surveillance strategies, the use of emerging technologies to improve surveillance and the growing importance of "One Health" to ensure that surveillance systems are integrated into mainstream surveillance practices and can serve society responsibly. Some key takeaways included: – There is a need to further strengthen and integrate wastewater surveillance – Harnessing big data responsibly and ethically to strengthen surveillance – We need to be cognizant of the domino effect of human health practices on climate and nature and the long-term repercussions they bring – Careful intricacies need to be considered when approaching public health through the policy route especially as we look at the inter-functioning of the multiple departments and functions A recording of the workshop can be viewed here.
ACCESS Health at the 2023 ASEAN Youth Summit
ACCESS Health Southeast Asia Associate Director - Consulting, Simeen Mirza was invited to be a panelist at the 2023 ASEAN Youth Summit, a series of youth events organized in conjunction with the 2023 ASEAN Indonesia Summit. The summit, held in Jakarta, drew over 1000 youth attendees from Indonesia and 20+ ASEAN and partner countries. Representing a public health perspective at a panel on Revolutionizing Water Security for Global Health, Simeen spoke about the need to co-create Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) solutions in partnership with communities, especially marginalized groups, to ensure that solutions deployed are both inclusive and sustainable. She also spoke about the importance of education for women and girls in the uptake of household water treatment and safe storage methods.
ACCESS Health participates in the National Health Authority’s Aarogya Manthan Event
Dr. Krishna Reddy was recently invited to be a panelist for a session at Arogya Manthan, a two-day event organized by the National Health Authority to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana. The event focused on universal health coverage, co-payments, pricing, ABDM compliance, beneficiary engagement, and PMJAY’s roadmap among others. Dr. Reddy participated in the Engaging With Providers and Strengthening Public Health Infrastructure session. The panelists discussed strategies that enhance engagement with healthcare providers and fortify the public health infrastructure within the AB-PMJAY (Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana) framework, thereby elevating the program’s efficiency, accessibility, and overall impact. Dr. Reddy offered insights from both a health system research perspective and a provider’s viewpoint, garnered over his career as a physician and a health systems researcher. A highlight of Dr. Reddy’s talk was the presentation of learnings from two crucial programs – the Aarogyasri Scheme in Andhra Pradesh and the PM-JAY experience in the state of Uttar Pradesh where the ACCESS Health team provides technical assistance to SACHIS. Drawing from these experiences, he emphasized the critical distinction between the Payer (represented by NHA & SHA) and the Provider (comprising Government Hospitals). Understanding this distinction is pivotal in ensuring the efficient delivery of healthcare services, particularly in time-sensitive cases when engaging providers is of paramount importance. Finally, Dr. Reddy underscored the urgent need to raise awareness among public providers, including teaching hospitals, regarding the benefits of adopting programs like AB-PMJAY.
Educating TSRTC Depot Volunteers About Noncommunicable diseases
ACCESS Health International organized a two-day training for the first batch of Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) depot volunteers at RTC Hospital in Hyderabad. This training is a part of the MoU between ACCESS Health International and the TSRTC to strengthen the capacity of TSRTC health volunteers through comprehensive training focused on non-communicable diseases, empowering them to serve as the primary point of contact for healthcare support at each depot level. The training focused on disease prevention and health promotion, equipping participants with essential knowledge and skills for adopting healthy behaviors.
Celebrating Five Years of Excellence in Healthcare In Uttar Pradesh
"A scheme with a satisfaction rate to the tune of 99% of the patients makes me so proud as an Indian. It is no less than a soft landing on the moon." These words by Dr Vinod K. Paul, Member - NITI Aayog and father of the Ayushman Bharat reforms, sum up the impact of the five years of partnership between ACCESS Health and SACHIS-the implementation agency for the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, better known as PM-JAY. To mark five years of the scheme in Uttar Pradesh, SACHIS and ACCESS Health conducted a stakeholder consultation-Ayushman Samvad: Healthcare Excellence in Uttar Pradesh-on August 25 in Lucknow in the presence of dignitaries like Dr. Paul, along with Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Kumar Pathak; State Minister for Health and Family Welfare Mayankeshwar Sharan Singh; Dr Santosh Mathew, Country Lead, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; and Dr Krishna Reddy, President - Asia, ACCESS Health International amongst others. The event not only highlighted the feats of the scheme-especially in the last year-but also facilitated dialogues to direct PM-JAY implementation towards digital transformation and quality, patient-centric care. The first technical discussion of the day focused on the challenges and successes of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission adoption in Uttar Pradesh, while also deliberating on the need for digital innovations to reduce friction in the patient journey and empower service providers. The second technical session on Value-Based and Patient-Centric Care was moderated by Dr. Krishna Reddy and focused on defining the parameters of quality care. "Only when you can ensure access (for patients) and financial viability (for providers) can you ensure quality in healthcare," said Dr. Reddy, following which the other panelists stressed the need for PM-JAY to mature into a scheme incentivizing quality care and for this transformation to happen at scale for sustainability. As PM-JAY completes five years in September, the day-long Ayushman Samvad was the first in a series of dialogues and events to celebrate the demi-decade of implementation. ACCESS Health has been a proud technical partner for PM-JAY since 2018 and looks forward to many more years of collaboration with SACHIS and the Government of Uttar Pradesh.
GLC4HSR launches Bangladesh Country Chapter
On July 26, The Global Learning Collaborative for Health System Resilience (GLC4HSR) launched the Bangladesh country chapter in partnership with Bangladesh Health Watch and the James P. Grant School of Public Health at BRAC University. Dr. Krishna Reddy, President of ACCESS Health Asia, stressed the importance of collaboration in preparing for health shocks for both pandemic and everyday situations. He suggested making collaborative learning a cultural norm and expanding partnerships worldwide to strengthen collective efforts. Other topics discussed at the launch included the urgent need for robust and adaptable health systems in the wake of the challenging lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and Bangladesh’s impressive 50-year journey in health systems through grassroots innovation, policy entrepreneurship, and socio-economic transformation. The GLC4HSR is a cross-country initiative that brings together a network of health systems experts, practitioners, and policymakers with a vision to build better, resilient health systems. Country chapters will help the GLC4HSR establish its presence in diverse geographies, facilitating the 'bottom-up' learning journey from the local to global level and vice versa. Bangladesh is the second country chapter. Future country chapters will include Indonesia and Sri Lanka. You can watch a recording of the launch event here.