Advances in Research on Globally Accessible Medicine (AROGYAM)

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The intellectual objectives of this project are to initiate new ways of considering social scientific issues in public health, drawing on leading edge research in both India and Europe, and offering insights not only into ways of understanding and improving public health in India and amongst populations of Indian origin living in Europe, but also more generally. The project will stimulate cross-disciplinary discussions, writing and research proposals on social science aspects of public health, involving specialists from Medical Sociology, Medical Anthropology, Public Health Sciences (including social epidemiology), Health Policy, Political Economy & Health Economics, Medical History and other medical humanities, Social Work and Law. Four institutions are associated with this project: multi-disciplinary groups from the College of Humanities and Social Science, and the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, University of Edinburgh, from Heidelberg University (Germany), Centre for Social Medicine and Community Health, Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi, India) and the Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (Trivandrum, India). We will address four main themes: 1. Non-communicable diseases, with special reference to diabetes, obesity, mental health and tobacco use, and the implications when populations cross national boundaries. The theme will explore: (a) how the roles of obesity and of tobacco use are understood, interpreted, and socially accepted/rejected; (b) how these are shaped by gender and economic structures within communities (c) the potential for adaptation of practices in obesity management and reduction together with tobacco cessation developed from studies of Asian communities in Europe (d) shared and diverse perceptions of risk within the wider social and faith frameworks (e) cost-effective approaches to primary and secondary prevention of non-communicable diseases in India.2. Communicable diseases, and challenges to public health with special reference to HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB. We will examine (a) drivers and barriers in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (b) conceptual frameworks and methodological approaches for assessing control and prevention policies and programmes for communicable diseases (c) structural drivers that influence risk environments; adherence and differential access to TB and to ART and HIV management processes (d) debates on gender and social science issues with particular reference to their impact on burden of disease (e) debates over human rights in prevention and treatment of communicable diseases and access to affordable medicines by those at the greatest risks.3. Innovations in biomedical technology and healthcare delivery with special reference to stem-cells, bio-banking, clinical and public health research trials, community health monitoring and pharmaceuticals. We will map: (a) the emerging scientific contours of technological innovation (b) ethical and economic justifications underscoring high investment biotechnology in public health care (c) political and social support for biotechnology and public health interface (d) impact on community health and questions of feasibility, distribution and access.4. This theme considers the dwindling role of nation-state in the context of increasing global movement of knowledge, technology, and personnel. We will examine: (a) the dwindling role of nation-state and increasing global movements of knowledge, technology, and people (b) transnational pharmaceutical companies and medical 'tourism' in facilitating movement of people to disparate global locales in search of therapies (c) ever accelerating marketing of 'traditional' medicines from Asia to upscale professionals in Europe and local elites in the lands of their origins (d) the increasing 'Europeanization' of traditional Asian medical systems.