Dr. Raj Shankar Ghosh | Senior Public Health Consultant
- Dr. Ghosh is the senior public health consultant.
- He is a former director, immunizations in Path India.
Podcast
Overview
COVID-19 laid emphasis on building a secure public health infrastructure for the countries. India saw millions of deaths and the health infrastructure was under immense pressure. However, there have been remarkable stories on how India ensured that the COVID vaccine was readily available to the remotest parts of the country. Taking it as one of the parameters, we discuss the state of India’s public health and the progress made over the years. We discuss promising vaccines under development in India and talk about the importance of collaboration and countering misinformation in the field of public health.
[00:34] – About Dr. Raj Shankar Ghosh
- Dr. Ghosh is the senior public health consultant.
- He is a former director, of immunizations in Path India.
- Dr. Ghosh has also been the Vice President and Regional Director, South Asia for OneWorld Health.
- He has been a senior adviser for vaccine delivery at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
[03:38] – Can you give me an overview of the current state of vaccination in India and the progress that has been made?
- Since the pulse polio program began, there has been a sea change in terms of the planning, execution, and monitoring of the vaccination program over the past two and a half decades.
- India’s immunization program has moved upscale.
- The most important thing that has happened is that we have a very steady supply of vaccines.
- India’s vaccine manufacturing, the R&D, and the supply systems have also gone high.
- The other thing that has happened is in terms of access. Barring a few difficult geographic areas, there has generally been good access to vaccines.
[05:05] – What are some of the main challenges we face in India, when it comes to vaccine distribution and administration?
- There are three major challenges that we must speak of.
- One is in terms of the vaccine confidence which is about equity and inclusiveness. During the COVID vaccination, we covered more than two billion people.
- But there have been some challenges in our ability to reach certain pockets of population like the transgender, the disabled, the migrants.
- The second thing that has been concerning is the health workers’ fatigue because there are numerous public health programs and there is only one last mile delivery person, which is the health worker.
- We must address this problem and work towards their capacity building and also in their effectiveness of delivery.
- The third is that in terms of access, we still have missed pockets in the Northeast, and even some urban areas.
[12:08] – How does the government of India prioritize different vaccines for different age groups and population segments?
- The first thing is the identification of a concern. For example, childhood pneumonia and diarrhoea are the concerns.
- The second is there are too many issues, therefore, we prioritize the issue based on the data and the evidence that we have.
- Once we have prioritized, the third is the policy that needs to be taken on the prioritized difficulty.
- Once we have taken the policy, we look at which product is going to be available, which means which vaccines are available in order to address the problem.
- For example, malaria may be a issue, but we don’t have a vaccine to address malaria but once we have identified the product, the next is about what is the cost of the product because we have limited resources.
- After determining the price, we come for procurement. Once the vaccine is procured, we have planning followed by programming and then identification of new issues.
RESOURCES:
You can connect with Dr. Raj Shankar Ghosh : LinkedIn
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Profile
- Dr. Ghosh is the senior public health consultant.
- He is a former director, immunizations in Path India.
- Dr. Ghosh has also been the Vice President and Regional Director, South Asia for OneWorld Health.
- He has been a senior adviser for vaccine delivery at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
