Putting people first means following Gandhi's Talisman
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Shobha Shukla – CNS
Contd from previous issue
One of the best indicators of the quality of TB care would be how many patients are actually satisfied with the TB services and want to become TB champions. Right now, we do not have many TB champions- perhaps the experience of the survivors has not been good enough, perhaps the stigma is very high. Maybe when we start putting people first, then everybody would be willing to become a TB or an HIV champion. This is a distant dream, but we can at least try to aspire for it. We must learn from each other- therein lies our strength.”
Value human life regardless of everything
Sylvester Daka, a pharmacist from Zambia told CNS: “To me it means valuing and respecting people, regardless of their financial status, religion, gender or race - showing humanity to people and putting human rights in the forefront.”
Deadly gap between global promises and local actions
Bhakti Chavan, a promising biotechnologist who survived one of the most serious forms of TB (extensively drug-resistant TB or XDR- TB) and is a part of World Health Organization (WHO) Task Force of Antimicrobial Resistance Survivors said: “We should have people-centred health responses. For example, most countries have national strategic plans to end TB, but the ground reality is very different.
There are diagnostic delays (and catastrophic costs) due to non-availability of tests in government settings, lack of access to novel treatment regimens, even drug shortages at times. All these issues act as roadblocks for the underprivileged to access the best of diagnostics and treatment.
A patient-centred diagnostic and treatment and care is most important and public health programmes will have to ensure that the best possible care is available to all those in need of it, and ensure prevention of spread of infection.”
Accountability to the peoples
Jogendra Upadhyay and Pankaj Patel, both serve as project directors at Gujarat AIDS Awareness and Prevention Unit (GAP) of the International Society for Research on Civilisation Diseases and Environment (ISCRDE) said to CNS: “Give respect to the community and provide quality service delivery to the most marginalized
. For HIV responses to be successful, our stakeholders should be the people towards whom the programmes or interventions are directed – our accountability is to the people we serve.”
Mashood Lawal, former Director of Food and Drug Services, Government of Nigeria, and member of WHO Task Force of Antimicrobial Resistance Survivors told us at CNS: “Restore the trust and faith of people (especially the low-income earners) in the public health system so that they can seek medical care and advice at the proper time.
Also, the clinicians and other healthcare providers should respond in a humanitarian way. Treatment and diagnostic guidelines should be fully implemented at the ground level and not just remain on paper.”
And as Sharon Lewin, President of International AIDS Society (IAS) and AIDS 2024 Co-Chair says: "In a world plagued by inequality, putting people first across all aspects of the HIV response is a moral imperative and the only viable route to progress.
Whether in the design of clinical trials, the formulation of policies or any other aspect of our efforts, people living with and affected by HIV must be not just beneficiaries but the actors driving our efforts."
Concluded
Contd from previous issue
One of the best indicators of the quality of TB care would be how many patients are actually satisfied with the TB services and want to become TB champions. Right now, we do not have many TB champions- perhaps the experience of the survivors has not been good enough, perhaps the stigma is very high. Maybe when we start putting people first, then everybody would be willing to become a TB or an HIV champion. This is a distant dream, but we can at least try to aspire for it. We must learn from each other- therein lies our strength.”
Value human life regardless of everything
Sylvester Daka, a pharmacist from Zambia told CNS: “To me it means valuing and respecting people, regardless of their financial status, religion, gender or race - showing humanity to people and putting human rights in the forefront.”
Deadly gap between global promises and local actions
Bhakti Chavan, a promising biotechnologist who survived one of the most serious forms of TB (extensively drug-resistant TB or XDR- TB) and is a part of World Health Organization (WHO) Task Force of Antimicrobial Resistance Survivors said: “We should have people-centred health responses. For example, most countries have national strategic plans to end TB, but the ground reality is very different.
There are diagnostic delays (and catastrophic costs) due to non-availability of tests in government settings, lack of access to novel treatment regimens, even drug shortages at times. All these issues act as roadblocks for the underprivileged to access the best of diagnostics and treatment.
A patient-centred diagnostic and treatment and care is most important and public health programmes will have to ensure that the best possible care is available to all those in need of it, and ensure prevention of spread of infection.”
Accountability to the peoples
Jogendra Upadhyay and Pankaj Patel, both serve as project directors at Gujarat AIDS Awareness and Prevention Unit (GAP) of the International Society for Research on Civilisation Diseases and Environment (ISCRDE) said to CNS: “Give respect to the community and provide quality service delivery to the most marginalized
. For HIV responses to be successful, our stakeholders should be the people towards whom the programmes or interventions are directed – our accountability is to the people we serve.”
Mashood Lawal, former Director of Food and Drug Services, Government of Nigeria, and member of WHO Task Force of Antimicrobial Resistance Survivors told us at CNS: “Restore the trust and faith of people (especially the low-income earners) in the public health system so that they can seek medical care and advice at the proper time.
Also, the clinicians and other healthcare providers should respond in a humanitarian way. Treatment and diagnostic guidelines should be fully implemented at the ground level and not just remain on paper.”
And as Sharon Lewin, President of International AIDS Society (IAS) and AIDS 2024 Co-Chair says: "In a world plagued by inequality, putting people first across all aspects of the HIV response is a moral imperative and the only viable route to progress.
Whether in the design of clinical trials, the formulation of policies or any other aspect of our efforts, people living with and affected by HIV must be not just beneficiaries but the actors driving our efforts."
Concluded