Tracing the Disparity Between Healthcare Policy-Based Infrastructure and Health Belief-Lead Practices: a Narrative Review on Indigenous Populations of India.

Most Indian tribes have limited access to healthcare facilities and rely heavily on traditional healing practices. This narrative review aimed to identify the disparities in the implementation of healthcare services and in accessing and availing these services by the indigenous population in India. We also have tried to throw light on the plausibility in strengthening the efficiency and efficacy of the public health system, by utilizing the available resources to its maximum potential, so that there will be a measurable outcome in the health status of these populations in India, coherently with the relevant sustainable development goals (SDG). The evidence from published literatures supports the fact that the disparity exists in the health status of indigenous populations in India as compared to the general populations. It emphasizes the need to address the key determinants such as the lack of knowledge, traditional healing practices and poor utilization of healthcare services provided to them. Various factors such as accessibility to healthcare resources, traditional healing practices, lack of awareness regarding healthcare services and schemes provided by the government, insufficient data regarding their issues and challenges and cultural and language barriers worsen the health status of indigenous people. However, our review reiterates that a well-structured and sustainable policy with reframed infrastructure and administration of healthcare system might bring a positive change in the health status of indigenous population in India.

Semi-interpenetrating nanosilver doped polysaccharide hydrogel scaffolds for cutaneous wound healing.

The extensive advancement with novel wound dressing materials functionalized with desirable properties, often touted as a panacea for cuts and burns afflicting various pathologies. However, it would indeed be a hard task to isolate any such material which perfectly fits the needs of any biomedical issue at hand. Biocompatibility, biodegradability as well as non-toxicity of natural polysaccharide served as a versatile and tunable platform for designing natural polysaccharide based scaffolds as an attractive tool in tissue engineering with a greater degree of acceptability. In this regard, we aimed to fabricate a semi interpenetrating hydrogel via exploiting the nontoxic and immune-stimulatory nature of galacto-xyloglucan (PST001) which was further doped with silver nanoparticles to formulate SNP@PST. The wound healing potential of SNP@PST was then studied both with in vitro and preclinical mice models. The current study gives a formulation for cost effective preparation of polysaccharide hydrogels using acrylamide crosslinking with improved biocompatibility and degradability. Wound healing studies in mice proved the efficiency of gels for the clinical application wherein the incorporation of nanosilver greatly enhanced the antimicrobial activity.

Compliance with iron-folic acid (IFA) therapy among pregnant women in an urban area of south India.

BACKGROUND: Anaemia is highly prevalent among pregnant women and iron deficiency is the most important cause. Like many other countries, India has policies to give pregnant women iron supplements. Non-compliance is one important challenging factor in combating anaemia. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the compliance for IFA tablets among pregnant women and to study the social factors influencing it. METHODOLOGY: This study included 190 pregnant women seeking ante-natal care in tertiary health Centres in the Mangalore city in South India. After Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC) approval, data was collected by personal interview. Missing ≥2 doses consecutively was considered non-compliance. The data was analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) version 11.5. RESULTS: The mean age of the study population was 25.8 years (SD: 4.1). Majority of the subjects consumed mixed diet and 72.1% belonged to lower socioeconomic status. Overall, compliance with IFA tablets was 64.7%. Compliance increased with the increase in age, birth order and single daily dose. Forgetfulness and both perceived as well as experienced side effects of IFA therapy were the important factors for non-compliance. CONCLUSION: There was a moderate level of Compliance towards IFA tablets with key social and demographic factors playing important role.

Compliance with iron-folic acid (IFA) therapy among pregnant women in an urban area of south India.

BACKGROUND: Anaemia is highly prevalent among pregnant women and iron deficiency is the most important cause. Like many other countries, India has policies to give pregnant women iron supplements. Non-compliance is one important challenging factor in combating anaemia. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the compliance for IFA tablets among pregnant women and to study the social factors influencing it. METHODOLOGY: This study included 190 pregnant women seeking ante-natal care in tertiary health centres in the Mangalore city in south India. After Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC) approval, data was collected by personal interview. Missing >2 doses consecutively was considered non-compliance. The data was analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) version 11.5. RESULTS: The mean age of the study population was 25.8 years (SD: 4.1). Most of the subjects consumed mixed diet and 72.1% belonged to lower socioeconomic status. Overall, compliance with IFA tablets was 64.7%. Compliance increased with the increase in age, birth order and single daily dose. Forgetfulness and both perceived as well as experienced side effects of IFA therapy were the important factors for non-compliance. CONCLUSION: There was a moderate level of compliance towards IFA tablets with key social and demographic factors playing an important role.