110 million people. This is twice the number of the entire population of the United Kingdom, 10 times the population of Greece, and more than 1,000 times the population of Tonga – and that is just one state in India. Welcome to Bihar and the amazing team at CARE India that works here. Join us as we investigate health systems strengthening through the lens of one of the original Lancet Commissioners for Global Surgery representing Southeast Asia as well as from physicians working on the ground in district hospitals to develop ground-level solutions. Both Indian born, with partial training abroad, our guests speak about their decision to return back to India in an effort to fight brain drain, tackle international networks, and expand funding for their important mission.

Professor Nobhojit Roy and Dr Monali Mohan: Lancet Commissioner for Global Surgery, Trustee at Lifebox, and Consultants in Health Systems Strengthening at CARE-India

 

 

INDIA

 

 

“UNDERSTANDING SURGICAL SYSTEMS IN RURAL BIHAR: A STORY OF THE 110 MILLION”

We have two incredible people joining in this episode. Our first guest is Professor Nobhojit Roy who trained as a General and Trauma surgeon in Mumbai, India, and then in the U.K. He also holds an MPH from John Hopkins University and a PhD from the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden on surgical outcomes and health systems in resource-poor settings. He was Professor and Chief of surgery providing universal healthcare to 100,000 people in suburban Mumbai. His department is the designated WHO Collaborating centre for research in Surgical care delivery in the LMICs (SEARO region). Thereafter, he was the National Advisor, Public Health Planning and Evidence at the think-tank of the Indian Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) called the National Health systems Resource centre (NHSRC). Currently, he is the Director of Health Systems Strengthening at CARE-India (funded by BMGF), which is the Technical support and resource unit to the Health department of the Govt of Bihar, a state of 110 million people in India. He has been one of the Lancet commissioners for Global Surgery (2013-2015) representing Southeast Asia Region (www.lancetglobalsurgery.org) and currently, is a Lancet Commissioner for NCD and Injuries in the poorest billion (www.ncdipoverty.org). He also serves on the Board of Trustees for Lifebox.

 

Our second guest is Dr Monali Mohan, a medical graduate from Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi. She received part of general surgery training from Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN and Medstar Washington Hospital Center, DC. She also completed a research fellowship in surgical simulation at Mayo Clinic. Currently, she is working as a CEmONC (Comprehensive Emergency Obstetrics and Neonatal Care) Mentor in Health Systems Strengthening at CARE-India in Bihar. Her focus is on understanding the surgical systems in district hospitals of Bihar, where Cesarean Sections are the most commonly performed procedure, and providing ground-level solutions to improve the quality of service delivery for the rural population of Bihar. Alongside this, she hopes to advocate for the rural healthcare workers, who are unfortunate victims of a dysfunctional health system, by bringing out their voices from the grassroots. Listen in for a fascinating episode!