Decentralisation, collaboration between stakeholders, and communication with citizens are important in improving Karnataka’s healthcare system, experts said at a panel discussion ‘Covid: Looking back, looking forward’ held at Bangalore International Centre on Wednesday.
“When we look at last-mile delivery of services, the context will be very different for a tribal area compared to an urban slum. So, decentralisation is needed and facilities should be set up with the involvement of the community,” said former WHO Chief Scientist Dr Sowmya Swaminathan, adding that primary health centres often have facilities that are inappropriate for the local population.
“Our Panchayat Raj institutions are not involved in healthcare. People have to start demanding services so that health becomes the agenda of political parties,” she said.
State Health Commissioner D Randeep acknowledged issues in triaging and bed allocation during Covid and added that the state needs to have certain healthcare systems in place and needs to bring the private sector on board for this. Since Covid deaths continue to occur in the state, there should be better understanding and communication about vaccine efficacy, he said.
Interventional pulmonologist Dr Rajani Bhat spoke about the gaps in understanding long Covid.
Dr N S Prashanth, assistant director at the Institute of Public Health, discussed the challenges in communicating Covid-related aspects to tribal populations.