Beyond the Vaccine: Public Health System’s Revival in India
VIEW EVENT DETAILSTuesday, 9th February 2021 | 6:30 PM IST

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In 1977, smallpox eradication lead to improved health systems, trained manpower to administer vaccines, infrastructure and systems to store vaccines and a network for surveillance of vaccine-preventable diseases. The lessons from this success were used universally to strengthen public healthcare, vaccination and develop a pool of public health professionals. In 1978, after it was declared free of smallpox, India launched the National Immunization Programme called the Expanded Programme of Immunization and since then has been one of the leading countries to introduce mass immunization measures for preventable diseases.
Although the Immunization programme in India has partially succeeded in reducing the burden of vaccine-preventable diseases; a significant proportion of them still exist. Moreover, there remains a wide gap in reported versus evaluated coverage. Now, with more than 16 lakh people already vaccinated in India and with 300 million targeted priority groups, India has initiated the largest ever vaccination drive. However, some previous challenges with vaccination delivery and infrastructure continue to persist. Supplementing them is the burden of health emergencies and diseases like HIV, Tuberculosis (TB) and Cancer, that have received less attention with the resources of an over crunched health system directed towards overcoming the pandemic. A case in point is India's ongoing battle with TB with more than 2.5 million cases reported each year and more than 0.4 million deaths per annum - one of the highest in the world.
The vaccination efforts remain largely government funded at the moment with likely plans of enrolling participation of the private sector specifically in the last-mile vaccine administration process. But with more than 70% of bed capacity and 60% of inpatient care facilities in the private sector, its engagement remains crucial to the vaccination and post-vaccination revival efforts. Partnership and collaboration between the public and private sectors will be key to addressing the public health challenges that have arisen and been exacerbated by the pandemic.
What are the learnings and case studies from past inoculation efforts that apply to the current covid situation? What is the likelihood of India attaining herd immunity post the two phases of vaccination? What are the measures that will have to be adopted by the public health system and citizenry post-vaccination? How will the non-covid disease burden be handled in the forthcoming months? How can the private and public sector work together in re-building and re-imagining India’s tenuous healthcare delivery infrastructure?
Join us as we discuss these pressing issues with Dr. Gagandeep Kang, Professor of Microbiology, Christian Medical College (CMC); Dr. Anupam Sibal, Group Medical Director, Apollo Hospitals Group; K. Sujatha Rao, former Union Health Secretary, Government of India and Dr. Narendra Kumar Arora, Executive Director, INCLEN Trust International. The discussion will be moderated by Dr. Priya Balasubramaniam Kakkar, Senior Public Health Scientist, Public Health Foundation of India.
This is the first programme in the series of 'Re-engineering Public Health Delivery in India' which aims to discuss Indian Public Health system’s contemporary challenges of infrastructure, resources, access and financing. The series will feature leading medical experts, public health practitioners and business leaders working towards fortifying the system and making quality healthcare in India equitable and accessible.
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Dr. Gagandeep Kang is a Professor of Microbiology, at the Wellcome Trust Research Laboratory, Division of Gastrointestinal Sciences at the Christian Medical College (CMC) in Vellore. She also serves as the Vice-Chair of the board of Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). She has worked on the development and use of vaccines for rotaviruses, cholera and typhoid, conducting large studies to define burden, test vaccines and measure their impact. Dr. Kang is a member of several advisory committees for the WHO, mainly related to research and use of vaccines.

Dr. Anupam Sibal is the Group Medical Director at Apollo Group of Hospitals. He has more than ninety-five publications in medical literature, serves on the editorial board of three journals and has edited a textbook of paediatric gastroenterology and hepatology. Dr. Sibal served as the only Asian JCI Physician Surveyor from January 2008 to 2010 and currently serves as a member of JCI's Asia – Pacific Advisory Council.

K. Sujatha Rao is the former Union Secretary for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. She has been actively involved in the first-ever national program for non-communicable diseases; the process for a national policy for use of antibiotics; and introducing vaccines in public health. Ms Rao has served as Director-General of the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) and has represented India on the boards of WHO, Global Fund and UNAIDS.
Dr. Narendra Arora is the Executive Director of The INCLEN Trust International, New Delhi and a member of the Global Advisory Committee for Vaccine Safety (GACVS), WHO. He serves as the Chairperson of the NTAGI Working Group for COVID-19 Vaccine and has made seminal contributions to research, policy and program translations.

Dr. Priya Balasubramaniam Kakkar is a Senior Public Health Scientist at the Public Health Foundation of India and Director of the PHFI Universal Health Initiative - one of India's pioneering health policy exercises on health system reform. She frequently advises organisations such as the World Bank, World Health Organization, USAID, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and many others on health systems and policy.