Title: Public Engagement workshop to strengthen Comprehensive Primary Health Care (CPHC)

What: GRAAM (Grassroots Research and Advocacy Movement) in collaboration with KHPT  (Karnataka Health Promotion Trust) had organized a  Public Engagement workshop in order to gather collective voices from the community on strengthening  Comprehensive Primary Health Care (CPHC)

When: January 11, 2022 in the city of Mysuru

Why: The Public Engagement (PE) was conducted to identify the barriers (gaps/ challenges) to Comprehensive Primary Health Care and the way to strengthen Urban Primary Health Care.

The first PE workshop was conducted with experts from Academics, Non-governmental Organisations, Community Based organizations (CBOs), Health Activists, Media, etc., from Mysuru city.

They represent the “Citizen’s Voice who are familiar with the status of the services, availability, grievances, what needs to be added, and how to shape or contribute towards strengthening of the system.

Program Highlights: The debate was mainly focused on the current status of Urban Comprehensive Primary Health Care in Mysore city at three different levels: health systems, facility, and community.  Through this dialogue, the research team comprehended the barriers to Comprehensive Primary Health Care and the design options for strengthening Urban Primary Health Care.

Program Result: Participants recommended quarterly/ half-yearly or annual auditing in healthcare in order to assess the performance of healthcare centers and to improve the quality of care. The issues of poor follow-up and referral services were discussed and medical personnel suggested preparing and maintaining authentic documentation at the grassroots level.

Other innovative ideas like distributing basic medicines for BP and Sugar through health cards similar to the BPL card model, Integrated health care should comprise Yoga & lifestyle management, and organizing health camps at a community level to diagnose the problem and provide the treatment were put forward in the meeting.