Suchergebnisse

Using recent advances in modeling climate-related risks and adjusting state of the art catastrophic risk modeling techniques to drought, the study conducts an innovative long-term assessment of drought risks in Andhra Pradesh, India, and suggests strategies to reduce their impact, under several economic, drought management and climate change scenarios. The analysis deepens an understanding of climate risk adaptation strategies, including implications for agricultural and catastrophic risk insurance

Various models are being tried out under Public–Private Partnerships in health care. Community health insurance is one of the models for providing health security for the people Below Poverty Line (BPL). Various states are experimenting on community health insurance with largely state financing, private provisioning of health care, especially curative care. When the partnership is with the for-profit private/corporate sector, where the underlining principle is profit making, the core principal of partnerships of beneficence and equity is undermined. The Aarogyasri scheme started in 2007 as a political move is continuing and praised as one of the most effective ways of treating tertiary, curative, largely surgeries and therapies for BPL population and is completely sponsored by the state. This article critically analyses the procedures and the cost incurred in private and public hospitals and finds that Aarogyasri is skewed towards curative tertiary care and is a big drain on the state exchequer with questions of sustainability. Further, this kind of partnership undermines the existence of large public sector, which is underutilised. The way forward for sustainable and comprehensive health care for people of Andhra Pradesh to ensure 'Arogyandhra' is to promote and strengthen public sector.

The microfinance crisis in Andhra Pradesh incited controversy worldwide between those who supported and those who discredited the industry's ability to alleviate poverty. Many reporters defamed for-profit microfinance institutions (MFIs) as opportunists, and claimed that their fundamental deficiencies victimized the poor. This paper refutes this claim and suggests instead that the incompatibility of MFIs with the political system in Andhra Pradesh was the driving force behind the crash. A comparative analysis of the development of microfinance markets in Latin America, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka, and a study of the political actors involved in the industry reveal that the crisis was primarily precipitated by political rather than fundamentally economic factors.

Women workers in Andhra Pradesh play a crucial role in tobacco cultivation. This article discusses their involvement in regular operations and examines and assesses the health hazards they risk in the course of their work. There is an uneconomical use of human energy due to long hours of work, task postures deleterious to the body and exposure to pesticides. The tedious work, inhospitable environment and poor socio-economic conditions lead to chronic morbidity. It is unfortunate that these workers are not getting the protection of laws that apply to them. Massive intervention in this sector is a responsibility of the departments of labour and public health.

Background: Kurnool, one of the four districts in the Rayalaseema region of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, emerged as a COVID-19 hotspot by mid-April 2020. Method: The authors compiled the publicly available information on different public health measures in Kurnool district and related them to the progression of COVID-19 from March to May 2020. Results: Two surges in pandemic progression of COVID-19 were recorded in Kurnool. The ini-tial upsurge in cases was attributed to return of people from other Indian states, along with return of participants of a religious congregation in Delhi, followed by in-migration of workers and truckers from other states and other districts of Andhra Pradesh, particularly from the state of Maharashtra (one of the worst affected states in India) and Chennai (the Koyambedu wholesale market - epicenter of the largest cluster of COVID-19 in Tamil Nadu). In a quick response to surging infections the state government launched operation 'Kurnool Fights Corona' to contain the outbreak. Kurnool had taken a targeted approach to testing, scaled up testing in areas with high case load, and conducted contact tracing for each positive case, along with requisitioning oxygenated beds in the district hospitals to meet the anticipated spurt in the number of positive cases. This combined approach paid rich dividends and from 26th April to May 9th, the growth curve flattened. Conclusion: Although the in migration of laborers and return of residents from other Indian states and abroad during the COVID-19 pandemic was a complex challenge, the timely actions of testing, tracing and isolation conducted by the district authorities in Kurnool greatly reduced transmission. Although this response assessment is based on a single district, the perspectives have revealed some important lessons regarding risk communication, preparedness and response for pandemics which will facilitate consolidation of the policy and program response to pandem-ics in future. Acknowledgement: Dr Sanjoy Sadhukhan (Professor, ...