International Health Journalism Fellowship Project: INDIA

Read more information about HIV/AIDS and related health issues in India on GlobalHealthReporting.org – India Country Page and in the updated fact sheet on HIV/AIDS in India. For a reporting guide on AIDS in India (available in English, Tamil, Marathi and Hindi), see The HIV/AIDS Reporting Guide for India. See the Health e-Letter, a monthly newsletter about public health in India.

About the Project

The Kaiser Family Foundation announced the new International Health Journalism Fellowship Project at the Media Leaders’ Summit, which was held at the Prime Minister’s residence in New Delhi in January 2005. The goal of the International Health Journalism Fellowship Project is to encourage substantive coverage of the health, social, economic, political and cultural implications of HIV/AIDS and associated health problems, as well as policies and programs to address HIV/AIDS and related health issues in India. Selected news organizations undertake an individually tailored project that focuses on HIV/AIDS and related health issues in India. Select examples of completed work are posted below. Please note that this program has ended and we are no longer granting these project awards.

The selected news organization designates a team of editors, reporters, photographers and/or graphic designers to lead the project. Priority is given to:

• projects otherwise unlikely to be undertaken or completed without outside funding,
• projects that focus on issues currently under-reported or not reported at all
• projects that have a high likelihood of being published/broadcast and
• are accessible to a relatively large audience

Eligibility

Awards are intended to produce in-depth, substantive and sustained reporting on HIV/AIDS and related issues. Selected broadcast news organizations may also be eligible to receive an award for in-depth reporting, to cover project expenses such as travel and research expenses typically up to and no greater than a maximum award of 220,000 Indian Rupees (approximately U.S. $5,000).

The Project in India is funded entirely through a generous grant from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as part of a larger initiative on increasing understanding of global health issues. The Gates Foundation is not involved in the selection of any project-award recipient, and no representation should be made that the Gates Foundation supports the activities of any project-award recipient.

What is Covered?

The project award covers travel expenses and other expenses including research, photography, internet access, telephone/fax and photocopying, laptop rental, camera crew and project-related production expenses. These expenses could include additional pages or print inserts, graphics, website information, online features such as Q&A with readers, additional television studio or editing time. Up to 20% of the award could be designated for additional staff time/salary expenses or to commission freelance contributions. The award may not be used to pay anyone who is being interviewed or who is being used in some other way as a news source.

Recent Project Events

• Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India, Journalism Workshop “Reporting on HIV: Issues and Concerns“, October 26-27, 2007
• Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Panchgani, Jaipur, India, U.S. Journalists’ Sitevisit, April 2-13, 2007Click here for the NPR report by Joe Neel about our site visit to India (7/6/07)
• Patna, Bihar, India, Issues on Covering HIV/AIDS, October 9-10, 2006
• Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, Issues on Covering HIV/AIDS, March 9-10, 2006
• [Internews Network Project] Lucknow, U.P., India, “Voice of U.P: Raising the profile of Health and HIV/AIDS in the U.P. Press,” February 11-12, 2006
• Jaipur, Rajasthan, India, Reporting on HIV: Issues and Concerns, October 21-22, 2005
• New Delhi, India, Media Leaders’ Summit on HIV/AIDS, January 2005
• Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, Media Consultations, November 2004
• New Delhi, India, Media Consultations, October 2004

Health e-LetterIn February 2007 Kaiser International Fellow, Kalpana Jain, launched the Health e-Letter, a monthly newsletter about public health issues in India with contributions from journalists from India and around the world.

To see past issues of the Health e-Letter click below:

2008 January 2008February 2008March 2008April 2008May 2008June 2008

2007February 2007March 2007April 2007May 2007June 2007July 2007August 2007September 2007October 2007November 2007December 2007

Fellowship Work

A selection of articles from our fellows’ work are represented below. Many of the articles are translated from their original language (Marathi or Hindi) into English for greater accessibility. It is important to note that as a result of the translations, the language in the articles may not reflect the full original intended meaning or tone.

• Hindustan newsaper (Hindi) Sudhir Mishra, principal correspondent, Lucknow

  “Every hundreth person in Manipur is HIV positive” May 26, 2006 “Songachi’s Agrey Wali has become Folklore” June 19, 2006 “Flying Sex Workers have to give in to Customers’ Demands” July 3, 2006

• Indian Express newspaper Toufiq Rashid, principal correspondent, New Delhi

  “New surveys to pin AIDS count” February 16, 2006 “Moving Down South” April 2, 2006 “Back to Basics” April 2, 2006 “72,000 New HIV cases, high-risk group is problem” April 5, 2006

• Loksatta newspaper (Marathi) Shekhar Deshmukh, senior sub-editor/reporter, Mumbai

  “Reporting on HIV needs a positive attitude” March 13, 2006 “Living Positively with HIV” March 18, 2006 “‘Disease from Mumbai’ spreads in Uttar Pradesh” April 4, 2006

• Rajasthan Patrika (Hindi) Harindra Singh Bagwala, principle correspondent, Jaipur

“AIDS spreading rapidly in Shekhawati region” June 9, 2006 “Anonymity of AIDS, radiance of Stars” August 19, 2006 “India becomes ‘AIDS Guru’” November 26, 2006

Partners

The Heroes Project, co-chaired by Parmeshwar Godrej and Richard Gere, seeks to harness India’s communication power and potential to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and reduce stigma and discrimination. It works through two avenues: media partnerships and its societal leaders program.

Internews

A number of factors have been suggested as possible reasons for increasing cost of medical malpractice insurance. For each factor I mention, please tell me whether you feel it is very important, somewhat important, not too important, or not important at all in causing higher malpractice insurance costs. If you do not know enough about some of these factors to have an opinion, just let me know. How important is…

Note: Asked of one-half of respondents

Very important

Somewhat important

Not too important

Not at all important

Don’t know/ Refused

a. Too many doctors making mistakes in treating patients?

43

33

13

1

9

b. Too many patients making unwarranted claims against doctors?

53

23

9

6

9

c. Too many lawyers filing unwarranted lawsuits?

60

22

6

6

6

d. Too many juries making larger awards than are justified?

42

30

8

7

13

e. High profits made by insurance companies selling malpractice insurance?

49

28

5

5

12

Of those factors you said are very important in causing rising malpractice insurance costs, which one do you think is the MOST important reason these costs are rising?

Note: Also includes those who said “very important” to only one reason

32         Too many lawyers filing unwarranted lawsuits

15         High profits made by insurance companies selling malpractice insurance

14         Too many patients making unwarranted claims against doctors

11         Too many doctors making mistakes in treating patients

9          Too many juries making larger awards than are justified

*          Other reason is most important

2          All same/equally important        

17         None of these very important    

*          Don’t know      

*          Refused           

Survey by Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Harvard School of Public Health. Methodology: Fieldwork by ICR-International Communications Research, November 4-November 28, 2004 and based on telephone interviews with a national adult sample of 1,396. 

(I’m going to read you a list of things some people worry about and others do not. I’d like you to tell me how worried you are about each of the following things.) How worried are you about…your health plan being more concerned about saving money for the plan than about what treatment is best for you? Are you very worried, somewhat worried, not too worried, or not at all worried?

Subpopulation/Note: Those who have health insurance

30%  Very worried

31   Somewhat worried

16   Not too worried

20   Not at all worried

4    Don’t know/Refused

Survey by Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Methodology: Conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International, October 4-October 9, 2005 and based on telephone interviews with a national adult sample of 1,200.

Do you think…managed care companies such as HMOs (Health Maintenance Organizations) generally do a good or bad job of serving their consumers?

41%  Good job

54   Bad job

5    Not sure/Refused

Methodology: Conducted by Harris Interactive, April 5-April 10, 2005 and based on telephone interviews with a national adult sample of 1,010. Data provided by The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, University of Connecticut.

This fact sheet summarizes and compares seventeen states’ approved Medicaid waivers related to Hurricane Katrina evacuees.

Fact Sheet (.pdf)

The Foundation’s Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured has collected resources related to the Medicaid policy changes in the budget reconciliation law, Deficit Reduction Act of 2005.

Deficit Reduction Act of 2005: Implications for Medicaid

West Virginia Medicaid State Plan Amendment: Key Program Changes and Questions

KYHealth Choices Medicaid Reform: Key Program Changes and Questions

Reports Explore Long-Term Care Issues Included in the Deficit Reduction Act

The Nuts and Bolts of Making Medicaid Policy Changes: An Overview and a Look at the Deficit Reduction Act

New Requirements for Citizenship Documentation in Medicaid

Key Issues and Opportunities: Implementing the New Medicaid Integrity Program

Paying for Nursing Home Care: Asset Transfer and Qualifying for Medicaid

Increasing Premiums and Cost Sharing in Medicaid and SCHIP: Recent State Experiences

Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment Services Fact Sheet

Medicaid 1915(c) Home and Community-Based Service Programs: Data Update

KaiserEDU.org tutorial: Future Directions in Medicaid: Implications of the DRA of 2005 and 1115 Waivers

Paying for Nursing Home Care: Asset Transfer and Qualifying for Medicaid

This snapshot presents key facts on who relies on nursing home services and highlights research findings on asset transfer and its impact on Medicaid eligibility.

Issue Brief (.pdf)

Medicaid and Budget Reconciliation: Implications of the Conference Report

This issue brief provides an overview of the federal budget context and then highlights key Medicaid savings proposals in the budget reconciliation conference bill and discusses the implications of the proposed changes.

Issue Brief (.pdf)

A Pre-Katrina Look At the Health Care Delivery System For Low-Income People InNew Orleans

This issue brief offers a retrospective look at how care was provided to poor residents in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina hit. It describes the structure of the public safety net and briefly discusses the challenges facing the system as it tries to rebuild.

Issue Brief (.pdf)

This policy brief examines national data to determine the share of current enrollees of public health coverage programs who would have alternate coverage options if public coverage were no longer available. The authors estimate that no more than 9 percent of low-income adults would have access to an alternative source of insurance in the absence of public coverage. This research suggests that the vast majority of current enrollees affected by cutbacks in eligibility for public programs, particularly those with the lowest incomes, are likely to be left uninsured.

Issue Brief (.pdf)