Vaishnavi Jayakumar Profile picture
Jun 7 22 tweets 10 min read Twitter logo Read on Twitter
2500+ people endorsed overnight, the disability sector's representation to @MoHFW_INDIA minister @mansukhmandviya on restoring the suddenly dropped questions from the upcoming National Family Health survey NFHS-6. Read it @ bit.ly/question-of-in…

#NfhsDrops #QuestionOfInclusion Jigsaw of letters NFHS with...
Will be going through the NFHS-6 questionnaire compilation today.

And posting thoughts and doubts as I go along on this thread.

drive.google.com/file/d/1nVC-0a…

Starting with a term I've never heard of : GAUNA -
apparently rooted in child marriage customs as the 'consummation ritual '
indiatoday.in/india/story/ch…

So this send off to house of 'husband' after menarche for consummation / the start of actual married life is apparently a custom in some North Indian states.
In some cases gauna occurs only after legal age but pestering happens 😑

#NFHS-6 #ChildMarriage
Read that there's no legal age for gauna as it would mean acknowledgement of child marriage. 🤔

But if the legal age is 18 for women, why ask NFHS-6 question on marital status for 13 & above females only? 13 year old girl being married is in any case illegal, why half measures?  CURRENT MARITAL STATUS (ag...
It's good that we're specifically asked this question instead of a default assumed.

Except, sex & gender conflation?

"Always confirm the sex of a person before recording it in Column (4) since there are many names that
may be given to a male, a female, & a transgender person" Screenshot of initial listi...
Given gender dysphoria, and health needs of transgender and non-binary communities, perhaps the 2 step process in #NFHS-6 could record both sex at birth (if instrumentally necessary) and current gender identity.
Any advocacy on this so far @chennaipride ?

nationalacademies.org/news/2022/03/n…
The questions on school education present lost opportunities to incorporate disability (developmental delay vs typical age ranges) &reason for not attending school - whether locomotor disability & transport not accessible / admission refused due to disability / CWSN - HBE student CODES FOR Q. 25 (Reason for...
Pleased to note that in new entry Q 30, in NFHS-6 household schedule 'vaccine centre not accessible' is listed as a response code for reason for not taking Covid-19 vaccine. (except one suspects that they probably meant distance rather than accessibility from a disability POV!) NFHS-6 codes for Q-30 (Reas...
This bit must be due to copy paste of DHS templates. I know standardisation and global comparison, but asking if every household has a boat with motor? Kitchen garden?

Wish mix of responses was from most to least likely.

Kitchen having exhaust fan? Why not add windows too? Question 46 of items owned ...
Grinned at the parquet flooring option!

In NFHS-6, HH Q 29, why not ask about bank account holding on a member basis (rather than a household basis) given growing DBT push?

Disability has been dropped for some new Covid related questions.

And now for the women's schedule...
In NFHS -6 woman's schedule's Q 242 'Main reason for abortion' options include male foetus and female foetus.

How can these be options given the PC-PNDT Act?

(Also how come father in law is exempt from machinations?! And unplanned pregnancy = euphemism for unprotected sex 😃) Question 242 of Woman's Sch...
Spot the difference in women's question 262 vs 263 in NFHS-6.

Is it what's been used during menstruation from the beginning of time vs what was last used?
How's it relevant? Wouldn't it be more useful to ask how many hours the sanitary pad was typically used without changing it? Questions 262 - 265 in Wome...
As a matter of interest are pregnant persons registered in urban settings too by govt staff?

With this mother and child protection card?

I'd be interested in the socioeconomic profile of people using pregnancy testing kits in India. Questions 409-413 of NFHS-6...
Dear @IIPSMumbai , please add option "No I couldn't give the pneumococcal vaccine to my child because the @MoHFW_INDIA made a mess of ordering PCV in 2022" to questions on PCV in NFHS-6.

bit.ly/no-pcv NFHS-6 women's schedule que...
Quite a bit of NFHS is the same health awareness questions repeated in 3 years while nothing has really been done to change awareness / perceptions.

What is the point of a whole page of HIV awareness queries - if a person gets an answer wrong, are they told the right answer? HIV Awareness in NFHS-6 wom...
That's 5.5 PAGES of questions on HIV in the NFHS-6 Women's schedule.

If cribbing about the length of the questionnaire, you know where to cut. This seems a bit dated.

Reading the woman's questionnaire leaves me angry at the focus on child-bearing, child-rearing and violence.
Now for the NFHS-6 Men's Schedule.

Funny how polyandry isn't provided for - women's schedule asks how many wives the husband has, and the man is asked how many wives he has.

Check out answer code "ONLY one wife" 🤦🏾 NFHS-6 men's schedule quest...
Men : Women's number of sexual partner options in NFHS-6 = 9 : 7.

Same sex partner option is dropped for women, as is 'transgender'.

For a sex, violence and reproduction obsessed survey, that's quite a shortcoming! Q 407 in NFHS-6 Men's Sched...Q 809 in NFHS-6 Men's Sched...
Just like the NFHS-6 number of wives question which isn't reversed for the other gender, here's the question on justification for beating.

There has to be a better way to find out about intimate partner / domestic violence than these suggestive scenarios that normalise the issue Q 506 response options in N...
No 1137 in the NFHS-6 Women's schedule asks "As far as you know, did your father ever beat your mother?"

That's the final question in the deceptively titled section 11 : Household relations, which covers rape.

(Marital rape too).

Not asked in the Man's schedule. Wonder why. Table of contents section w...
Section 9 (Husband's background & Women's Work) in NFHS-6 women's schedule = Section 5 (Attitudes towards Gender roles) in the Men's.
That's the beating justification questions!
Zilch on mental health, even though preoccupied with pregnancy.
Other health issues are truly othered. Question : do you currently...
Verdict : this can be called the National Reproductive Health Survey, with a disturbing voyeuristic focus on sex and violence. Lots of socio-economic parameters to keep media and researchers busy for a couple of years. And health awareness testing in a vacuum.
WHERE'S THE HEALTH?

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More from @vjayakumar

Jun 5
Baffled that public health policy organisations & professionals are mum about @IIPSMumbai dropping anemia ALTOGETHER from #NFHS-6, barring few voices below.

Why @jsa_india @SOCHARASOPHEA @PHMglobal @SNEHAmumbai @jan_arogya @CEHAT1 @napmindia @iphindia etc?

#QuestionOfInclusion Diagram of Prevalence of An...
2 decades of anemia data in NFHS dropped because ... What?

Here's the entire NFHS-6 set of schedules and manuals released quietly by IIPS after the disability sector made a noise :
drive.google.com/file/d/1nVC-0a…

References to anaemia still persist in the instructions to interviewers !
For 2 decades India (& the world) has been using capillary blood for demographic health surveys. IIPS made it clear that the data is not for diagnosis but estimates. If the evidence pointing to capillary blood Hb results being higher has been around for so long, why act only now?
Read 7 tweets
Oct 3, 2022
Ploughing through the 600 pages of Maharashtra Prison manual in prep for Fr Stan Swamy MSHRC hearing tomorrow.

It's so dated, it's mists of time.

Remembered Arun Ferreira's account of the absurd meal timings.

If the manual doesn't change, how can life?
beyondheadlines.in/2012/06/arun-f… Extract of prison routine f...Arun Ferreira article (link...
Why no dal on Sundays?

If you're prison labour you get more food, if you're not, rations get reduced?

29. It shall be the duty of the Supt to see that diet on the
highest scales is provided only to such prisoners as are employed bona
fide on hard labour & are doing full task.
While the Maharashtra prison manual has no caste based labour diktats , the Class I vs Class II prisoner terminology here is quite blatantly classist. During prison parade, one is Ek, do vs Attention, self shave vs barber, different diet, letter privileges etc
So this is telling: Maharashtra Prison Manual '...
Read 6 tweets
Jun 15, 2022
Today after 1.5 years sitting on 32 stations' access audit reports @cmrlofficial had the temerity to inform Madras High Court that current construction is as per rules.
Indian rules on ramp design haven't changed in substance > 1998. Yet CMRL manages this in Central Square, 2022
The heart in mouth video shows a very strong disabled woman laboriously try to navigate a smooth, slippery surfaced, impossibly inclined 'ramp' (1:5?). Self propelling on a wheelchair, despite sliding often, from 0:20 near the top, front caster wheels keep lifting off surface 😱
Even 1998 CPWD guidelines for a barrier-free environment say "Ramp shall be finished with non slip material ... with maximum gradient 1:12,
having double handrail at a height of 800 &
900 mm on both sides extending 300 mm beyond ramp."

Ditto 2016 & 2021 Harmonised Guidelines. Poster text : Ramps like this flout disability law & law of
Read 10 tweets
Jun 12, 2022
Not a doc (though I go by Dr Bathak with friends!). Firm believer in doctors prescribing only chemical name.

Procurement teams must do random, routine quality checks for all drugs, brands too. Anyone has list of trusted testing labs?

Print disabled :
facebook.com/26856106650501…
On that note, neurologists, @pratimamurthy @mheduNIMHANS ,
recently a Raipur family was struggling to get Sabril tablet prescribed by NIMHANS. Fortunately a pharmacist forwarded them to the #WhereIsViga group of Team ISthmUS and short term need is fulfilled. But what ifs abound..
As a result of the organised visibility of families during Covid lockdown and sustained pressure from associations like @thetsaindia , Vigabatrin is now also marketed locally by manufacturers as sachets - MSN Labs (Viganext) and Intas (Viby).

So please only generic name in Rx ! Montage of packaged Vigabatrin 500 mg via various companies
Read 10 tweets
Oct 18, 2021
Update as constant queries on draft (less so on #PLCP etc 🙄) : @DipikaJain2019 of @CJLS_JGU has been in touch & has committed to release the working draft by end of day in public domain.

The planned Right to Health Bill 2021 citizen engagement website is also being advanced.
More info later.
Consultations as she'd mentioned earlier, will follow.

However, we should all be concerned that this seems to be more of a PMO-@EACtoPM initiative, rather than a health ministry effort. @MoHFW_INDIA seems to not be involved in this at all!

Timing also suspect
Really wish they'd managed a quote from Health Ministry here :
newindianexpress.com/nation/2021/oc…

Too many public health sector representatives seem to be clueless about this whole exercise, despite some of their colleagues' participation - distressing lack of openness within civil society
Read 5 tweets

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