Non-health determinants of health and healthcare in Delhi.

With only 0.05% of the total area of the country, Delhi is home to 1.34% of India’s population. This creates enormous pressure on natural and man-made resources, and generates situations in which non-health determinants may take precedence over the conventional determinants directly associated with health and healthcare. With the rising advocacy on social determinants of health, several of these factors may rightly seem to be part of the broader territory of healthrelated variables, and in that context, they may be designated as conventional non-medical determinants. We discuss some more visible domains, such as demography, migration and floating population; the physical and biological environment; economic determinants; social determinants; legislation and enforcement, and underscore some less explored yet critical domains of the determinants related to culture, governance and politics. What emerges as a compelling reality is a wide differential in physical environment, urban planning and access to infrastructural inputs between the privileged and marginalized areas of Delhi. Inequities in physical quality of life are so gross that even a value-neutral, official narrative betrays them helplessly. We propose actionable areas to address some of the pressing non-health determinants of health and healthcare.

Beyond DOtS: avenues ahead in the management of tuberculosis.

India has almost 30% of the global burden of tuberculosis (TB)--one person dies of the disease every minute in our country. India has mounted the second-largest DOTS programme in the world to control this disease. However, DOTS has its limitations and newer approaches have been developed over the years to overcome the global burden of tuberculosis. Problems with health facilities, patients, drugs and the disease itself constitute some of the hurdles in the implementation of the DOTS programme. In an attempt to go beyond DOTS, the WHO launched the 'Stop TB Initiative' in 1988. Against the background of irrational antituberculosis drug use, which contributes to increasing drug resistance, the effective involvement of private healthcare providers is imperative to achieve better geographical and patient coverage for the implementation of DOTS. The WHO is currently addressing the issue of involving private practitioners in tuberculosis control in a programme called Public-Private Mix DOTS (PPM DOTS). The Stop TB Initiative is also active in the area of dual infection with HIV and tuberculosis, and the initiatives that have been taken in this area include 'ProTEST', community contribution to tuberculosis care, and development and dissemination of training materials and guidelines. The DOTS-Plus strategy for the management of multidrug resistant (MDR)-TB and the establishment of the Green Light Committee to review project applications in this area are initiatives taken to curb the problem of drug resistance in tuberculosis. Even decades after the introduction of the DOTS strategy, much needs to be done to expand the services to the entire population; it is now essential to develop strategies that go beyond DOTS.