Rema Nagarajan Profile picture
May 10 4 tweets 2 min read
How to look at same data in 3 diff ways
As tot. population-Hindu up by ~70 cr, Muslim by 14 cr
As share of population-Hindu down by 7 %age points, Muslim up by 4 %age points
Not controversial enough for elections?
PM-EAC uses rate of change- Hindu down by 8%, Muslim up by 43%👏👏 Image Higher fertility rate closely related to level of development
Every govt data shows Muslims most backward, no matter which state
But look at difference in fertility rate of communities depending on development level of state
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/state-ke…
Image
Nov 3, 2022 7 tweets 2 min read
Haryana's govt's Rs 10 lakh bond agreement/bank guarantee at beginning of every academic year for 4.5 yrs of MBBS=Rs 10lac fee every yr?
Haryana pvt med colleges fees ~Rs 12 lakh
Difficult to make 50% seats in pvt colleges at govt fees?
Simple!
Hike govt fees to pvt level
Happy? No banks giving guarantee
Govt left with just bond agreement
So govt asks students-pay Rs 10L cash every academic yr- will give it back if student does 7yr govt service after MBBS- but no guarantee to give govt job
Students protest
So govt says-ok no cash, but bond stays
Nov 1, 2022 6 tweets 2 min read
Indian doctors are NEVER influenced by Pharma money 🙄
Apex Laboratories Pvt Ltd case- "doctors were provided ...hospitality, conference fees, gold coins, LCD TVs, fridges, laptops, etc. to promote its nutritional health supplement Zincovit"
indiankanoon.org/doc/43893743/?… "expenditure of Rs 4.72 crore incurred towards gifting freebies such as hospitality, conference fees, gold coins, LCD TVs, fridges, laptops, to medical practitioners for creating awareness about health supplement ‘Zincovit’
Imagine! Rs 4.72 crore to promote just ONE supplement
Sep 26, 2022 12 tweets 3 min read
Central govt's per capita spend on its own employees was SIX times more than per capita spending on common citizen by govt(centre+states)-shows National Health Accounts2018-19
Though CGHS is contributory scheme, over 90% of funding comes from central govt
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/cghs-per… “If Ayushman is as good as bureaucrats and govt claims, they should have no problem in merging CGHS with Ayushman, so that they get the same kind of health service as the public, which pays for their healthcare,” said Sunil Nandraj-senior health researcher
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/cghs-per…
Aug 19, 2022 5 tweets 2 min read
Tamil Nadu healthcare model's success is due to taking on the real challenge in health-INEQUITY, says @kikumbhar
In Pathologies of Power, Paul Farmer wrote-equity is the central challenge for future of medicine & public health, and underscored the “pathogenic role of inequity.” “A visit to primary health centres in the state would convince anybody that many medical officers have non-Brahmanical backgrounds and are very similar to many rural patients in dress, mannerism, language, as well as overall values and attitudes.”
ijme.in/articles/the-d…
Jul 3, 2022 8 tweets 3 min read
No golden past when doctors were trusted/revered
Myth created by urban elites who had cozy relationship with doctors who were almost all from same class/caste
Not so for 80%+ population
@kikumbhar dives into history of medicine in India to bust some myths
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-ti… Even in 1950s-60s
For underprivileged (70-80% of city population), hospitals often only way to access a doctor. They encountered rude disrespectful behaviour
Rural Indias, 80%+ population hardly ever
saw a doctor
Then how can we say most Indians respected/trusted doctors?
Sep 27, 2021 9 tweets 2 min read
It's all public money
Then why shouldn't the public ask for accounts?
Why is total amount collected a secret?
Why isn't it under RTI?
A long thread on this Caravan piece which looks at how fund is being shielded from public scrutiny and the ventilator scam
caravanmagazine.in/government/why… "..substantial money has been donated to the fund, but the government has steadfastly refused to reveal exactly how much money it has received. It has refused to provide information about the fund under right-to-information requests.."
May 5, 2021 5 tweets 2 min read
Do the French people know their aid for India is going to one of the most expensive hospitals in Delhi?
BLK-Max Hospital announced it will install an oxygen generator and a high-pressure cylinder filling system that was donated by the France government.
thestatesman.com/india/tide-ong… BLK Max Hospital said O2 Generator & cylinder filling system were donated by France thru its Delhi embassy.
Is there a deal between Max and embassy to treat its staff? Is that why this aid to a hospital that 90% Indian citizens cannot afford?
thestatesman.com/india/tide-ong…
Nov 7, 2020 4 tweets 1 min read
Dos & Don’ts if patient/dead body held hostage
-Dial 100 and report detention to police control room so that a record is created of date and time of detention
-Keep all communication with hospital written rather than verbal
-Do not sign promissory note or give post-dated cheque --Do not give any certification of satisfaction or statement praising treatment
--Give simple written undertaking on plain piece of paper that bill will be settled in due course “without prejudice”
The words “without prejudice” are imp bcos it protects your right to contest bill
Aug 7, 2020 6 tweets 2 min read
Read to know which are the 3 biggest money spinners in ICU- all in use almost daily in Covid treatment
ABG machine is KING-hospitals pay Rs 50-75 per ABG test
Charge patient-Rs 600-1700 per test per day(chk ur bill)
Earn from ABG alone ~Rs 5 crore per yr

timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/an-icu-e… VENTILATORS
Rs 10-15 lakh- Avg cost of ventilator
25-30- No. of ventilators in 50-60 bed ICU
Rs 2.5- 4.5 crore- Hospital spends to buy ventilators
Rs 4,000- Avg daily ventilator charge
With 20-25 patients on ventilators daily
Annual earning from ventilators- Rs 2.9 cr-3.6cr
Jan 24, 2020 5 tweets 2 min read
Pls read thread to know how health ministry bureaucracy killed a child eligible for financial assistance for treatment. Indian Express & TOI wrote about it. So they can't claim they didn't know. They ignored and let the kid die like many others in similar situation who have died. Sept 22, 2019- This is the first story by Astha Saxena in Indian Express. Still health ministry refused to intervene.
indianexpress.com/article/india/…
Nov 28, 2019 6 tweets 2 min read
MCI medical college faculty database has 2.6 lakh names
MCI’s own norms suggest it should be approx 1 lakh
HRD ministry survey shows colleges with over 300 teachers in MCI data having less than 100
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/MCI-data… India has at best 10 lakh docs, around 4 lakh of them post-graduates
At 2.6 lakh, they would be over a quarter of all docs and above 60% of PGs
Database also has cases of same person listed as faculty in up to four colleges
Jun 15, 2019 5 tweets 2 min read
-25 marks, several zero and single digit mark scorers now doing MBBS. This is the MERIT-BASED admission that NEET claims to have achieved? Neither Medical Counselling Committee nor Medical Council of India make the NEET score, rank, percentile and individual subject marks scored by students admitted each year public for fear of this farce being exposed. Why not publish this data every year?
Jun 4, 2019 6 tweets 2 min read
Here is a peek at what draft National Education Policy has in store for medical education. Lateral entry for MBBS course, no fee regulation & inspection, accreditation of colleges to be outsourced @AnantBhan @Mundra08 timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/draft-ed… First 2 years common course for all science graduates, next 3 years to specialize as doctors, dentists or nurses. Students from dentistry and nursing to be allowed lateral entry into MBBS course