Staff Spotlight: Stuti Shukla

Stuti is the Communications Manager at the India office of ACCESS Health International. Before joining ACCESS Health, Stuti worked as a Senior Correspondent at The Indian Express in Mumbai reporting on the key ministries of the Government of Maharashtra, including Health and Family Welfare, School Education, Women and Child Development, Urban Development, and Social Justice. This experience helped her develop a skill set that served her well, first as a Research Consultant and then as a Communications Manager in her eight-year tenure at ACCESS Health International.   After completing a postgraduate degree in Public Policy and Management at the Indian Institute of Management- Bangalore, Stuti was inspired to shift to a career in public health. She was attracted to ACCESS Health International because of the focus on systems-level efforts to transform healthcare systems. She enjoys working in a multidisciplinary team where a free exchange of ideas is encouraged.   Stuti played a significant role in organizing the recent GLC4HSR Annual Conclave and has been a driving force behind the communications and branding building of GLC4HSR from the initial concept to daily implementation. Outside of ACCESS Health, Stuti enjoys exploring different musical genres and artists. She has received training in Indian classical singing.

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Introducing Dr. Tony Badrick: An APAC CVD Alliance Strategic Partner

Dr. Tony Badrick is President of the Asia-Pacific Federation for Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine (APFCB) and CEO of The Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (RCPA) Quality Assurance Programs since 2015. Dr. Badrick is not just an accomplished clinical biochemist but a healthcare practitioner aware that holistic, interdisciplinary approaches are needed to solve today's most pressing health challenges. He also believes that accurate, timely, and widespread access to diagnostics is fundamental to a strong health system and key to ensuring patients get appropriate preventive, curative, or rehabilitative care. Data and data analytics are also vital to ensure patients and clinicians have the means for proper follow-up and care coordination. For Dr. Badrick, the APAC CVD Alliance presents an opportunity to leverage collective expertise and resources to implement effective strategies for preventing, detecting, and treating CVD. Through these efforts, he envisions a future where the impact of CVD is significantly reduced, leading to healthier and more vibrant communities. Read more about Dr Badrick here.

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ACCESS Health at G20 Principal Scientific Advisers Round Table Side Event

Dr. Uma Aysola, Director of Communication, Relations, and Partnerships for ACCESS Health India was recently invited to speak at a G20 Principal Scientific Advisers Round Table Side Event on One Health, Disease Surveillance, and Pandemic Preparedness. Dr. Aysola spoke on a panel titled "Perspectives on building robust public health strategies for disease surveillance and its potential impact”. She emphasized the pivotal role of communication in healthcare, particularly in the context of pandemic preparedness, and the significance of risk and crisis communication in ensuring robust public health strategies. She also discussed how science and community engagement are entwined. Highlighting how effective communication fosters trust and understanding between governments and communities and how culture and trust are crucial foundations for meaningful community engagement. This side event was jointly organized by the Pune Knowledge Cluster (PKC) and the Office of Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India (OPSA) under the aegis of India’s G20 presidency.

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ACCESS Health Collaborates on Think20 Policy Brief

Maulik Chokshi, Deputy India Director (Technical), Arun B Nair, Technical Lead (Healthcare Financing), and Tushar Mokashi, Assistant Director (Health Systems), recently published a Policy Brief for Think20 (T20) titled Institutions, Fiscal Space, and Social Health Protection which examines the institutional determinants of fiscal space in G20 countries during 2005-2021. This brief was written in collaboration with a team from the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, under Task Force 1 of T20: Macroeconomics, Trade, and Livelihoods: Policy Coherence and International Coordination. T20 is a global network of think tanks that provide policy recommendations on various issues to the G20, an international forum for governments and central bank governors. The policy brief explores the relationship between fiscal space and investment in the health sector. The brief also looks at the institutional determinants of fiscal space in the G20 countries during 2005-2021 and establishes that country-specific institutions determine the evolution of the budgetary space. You can read the policy brief here

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ACCESS Health at the 2023 Asian Undergraduate Symposium

ACCESS Health Southeast Asia Senior Consultant Timothy Fang was invited to be a panelist at the 2023 Asian Undergraduate Symposium, which was attended by over 100 Southeast Asian undergraduates at NUS College, the honors college of the National University of Singapore. Representing a public health perspective, Timothy spoke about the importance of health as a holistic system, universal health coverage, and health security in Southeast Asia.

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ACCESS Health Collaborates with Leapfrog to Value on a Value-based Care Playbook

Dr. Krishna Reddy, President of ACCESS Health Asia, and Maulik Chokshi, Deputy India Director (Technical), recently collaborated with Leapfrog to Value on a playbook for designing value-based care models for low-and middle-income countries. The playbook shares step-by-step best practices on how patients, providers, and payers can collaboratively design a value-based care model. Other partners included Percept, PharmAccess Foundation, and ICHOM. The playbook is informed by work undertaken by Leapfrog to Value and its partners across care pathways, including TB and HIV, maternal and neonatal health, diabetes, physical rehabilitation, and palliative care in India, South Africa, Ghana, and Kenya. This guide will continue to evolve over time, with inputs gathered from lived experience and evidence generated across various demonstration projects. You can read the playbook here.

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APAC CVD Alliance to Steer the Fight Against Cardiovascular Diseases

In a recent interview with Korea Biomedical Review, Timothy Fang, APAC CVD Alliance Program Lead at ACCESS Health International, shared his experiences. “ACCESS Health International, a nonprofit global health organization acting as the secretariat for the APAC CVD Alliance, is an organization fueled by the desire to bring healthcare within reach of marginalized and underprivileged populations,” Fang said. “Our focus spans the healthcare spectrum, addressing issues like health financing, promotion, and digital health.” Read this story on the APAC CVD Alliance here.

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Enhancing Healthcare Support for Telangana State Road Transport Employees

On June 16th, 2023, ACCESS Health India signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) to assist in TSRTC training health volunteers, empowering them to serve as the primary point of contact for healthcare support at each depot level.   By providing comprehensive training focused on non-communicable diseases, the collaboration aims to equip TSRTC health volunteers with the necessary knowledge and skills to deliver effective healthcare support. These volunteers will play a vital role in ensuring that employees receive the care they need.   A key aspect of this partnership is the utilization of innovative IT interventions to monitor employee health through the establishment of a command centre, which will serve as a centralized hub for seamless information flow and efficient employee health monitoring.   The collective objective is to foster a culture of well-being throughout the organization. By implementing Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) interventions, the collaboration seeks to improve the overall health status of TSRTC employees.

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ACCESS Health participates in WHO SEARO PHC Forum’s Thematic Working Group

Dr. Krishna Reddy, Maulik Chokshi, and Dr. Uma Aysola recently participated in the thematic working group meetings organized as a part of WHO SEARO's Regional Forum on Primary Health Care held from June 20 to 22 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.   Dr. Reddy serves as an advisor to the Forum, Dr. Aysola is a member of the thematic working group on Community Engagement, and Mr. Chokshi leads the thematic working group on PHC Investment. The Global Learning Collaborative for Health Systems Resilience is a strategic knowledge partner of the forum.   Member states and partners provided updates on PHC initiatives, including perspectives from WHO and partner organizations. The working groups delved into specific themes such as the PHC workforce, PHC quality, urban PHC, PHC investment, and community engagement. Moderators facilitated breakout sessions to encourage in-depth discussions and the exploration of potential areas for joint action. The sessions culminated in a synthesis of the discussions, where potential areas of action and synergy were identified.   On the final day, the focus shifted to learning from Bangladesh’s experiences in PHC. The agenda included a documentary and virtual introduction of the Bangladesh Community Clinic, as well as a presentation on PHC progress, innovations, and future directions in the country. Breakout working groups addressed operational bottlenecks specific to the Bangladesh context, and the SEAR PHC Forum presented potential areas of action and discussed policy options and operational learning.   The SEAR PHC Forum’s Thematic Working Groups meeting in Dhaka served as a platform for sharing knowledge, collaborating on PHC strategies, and strengthening partnerships to improve healthcare delivery in the Southeast Asia Region.

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Driving Screening for Cervical Cancer and Other NCDs in Bahriach

On June 16th, ACCESS Health India, in collaboration with the State Health Agency for Comprehensive Health and Integrated Services (SAHIS) and Pathkind Labs, organized an NCD Screening Camp in the district of Bahriach, Uttar Pradesh, India. Conducted at CHC Kaiserganj, the camp served over 400 beneficiaries with screening services for hypertension, blood sugar, and cervical cancer. While 282 beneficiaries were screened for hypertension, another 191 got their blood sugar levels tested. Pap smears were administered to women at the camp who reported symptoms such as vaginal discharge, bleeding, and pelvic pain, in consultation with a medical doctor. The screening camp was preceded by a training session for the staff at the first-referral unit on using the NCD app designed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The app is designed to be used by frontline workers at the primary healthcare level. It encourages them to digitally record the health parameters of beneficiaries screened for non-communicable diseases, namely: Cancer (Oral, Breast, and Cervix), Cardiovascular Diseases, Stroke, and Diabetes. Bahraich is one of the eight districts in Uttar Pradesh identified by the Government of India for health indicators-based transformation as part of its Aspirational Districts Programme. The NCD Screening Camp-a special initiative by SACHIS (the implementation agency for the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana), ACCESS Health, and Pathkind Labs-aimed to give beneficiaries in the district access to quality diagnostics and aid in the early detection of non-communicable and lifestyle diseases. This camp is the first of many interventions ACCESS Health hopes to deploy in the state, with the support of the Government of Uttar Pradesh, to mobilize frontline workers to promote better health outcomes.

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