Pragyaan Sustainable Health Outcomes (PRASHO) Foundation

 

PRASHO Foundation

Pragyaan Sustainable Health Outcomes (PRASHO) Foundation is a non-profit research organization in Hyderabad, India.Our work spans operational, clinical, and epidemiological research on communicable and non-communicable diseases. We focus on strengthening the research and operational capacity of health practitioners and decision makers through mentorship and skill enhancement programs. We also provide data analysis support for clinical services and community-based programs, enabling stakeholders to generate actionable insights for evidence-informed decision -making. Through our partnership with the World Trade Centre, we frequently disseminate accurate and timely health information to encourage disease prevention and healthier communities globally.

The state of use of the evidence, especially in decision making in health within India and South Asia is just emerging. The COVID-19 pandemic had created an interest among key stakeholders in decision making for health using good quality evidence. Knowledge and evidence translation from high-income countries (HIC) influence decision making in medical practice. Public health interventions and health systems evidence from HICs may not be directly implementable within the Indian context especially given the demographic, epidemiological, sociocultural, and contextual diversity that influence decision making in health and social care. Anecdotal evidence coming from contextually specific, cross-sectional studies are the current sources of decision making for public health and health system strengthening.

Therefore, PRASHO Foundation envisions capacity building as a strategic priority for:

  1. Systematic, high quality evidence generation for public health and health system strengthening
  2. Evidence-based decision making by policy makers and health professionals
  3. Strengthening the primary care systems for the provision of good quality, evidence-based health and social care.

With India undergoing rapid demographic, epidemiological, and economic transitions, achieving universal health coverage for its one-sixth share of the world’s population is a major challenge, particularly with only 1.3% of its GDP allocated to public health financing. This situation calls for scientifically rigorous mechanisms to make the most out of those limited national health investments. Also, it underscores the importance of setting priorities for those limited health investments based on the strongest quality of available evidence. As this could maximize the impact of evidence-based decisions on public health, PRASHO Foundation has been striving to build this capacity and thereby strengthen the health system of India.

Public health, non-communicable diseases, and disability are multi-disciplinary sciences with a varied range of interventions for the diverse needs of the communities thus demanding complex and comprehensive evidence-based strategies and interventions to meet the needs of the consumers. PRASHO Foundation envisions the capacity building efforts to make a positive impact on communities, government, and institutions to make informed –decisions to address the growing demands for public health interventions.

PRASHO Foundation specializes in public health and also focuses its efforts exclusively on disability within public health. Although this is a specialized area of function, the activities of PRASHO Foundation as a Cochrane affiliate do not deviate or deliver less in other functional areas because public health in itself is an all-inclusive paradigm. However, we strongly believe in creating an inclusive area of function for disability within India, once we progress forward from an affiliate to a centre.

Team information:

  1. Dr. Suresh Kamalakannan; Director- Cochrane Affiliate, Evidence Synthesis and Disability Research and Education; suresh.k@prasho.org
  2. Dr. GVS Murthy; President; president@prasho.org
  3. Dr. Anirudh Gudlavelleti; Director- Public Health; director.publichealth@prasho.org
  4. Dr. Usha Rani Poli; Director- Oncology Research and Education; ushapoli@prasho.org
  5. Mr. Hira Pant; Director-Health Data Sciences; hira@prasho.org
  6. Dr. Abhilash Patra; Project Scientist-III (Public Health); abhilash.patra@prasho.org
  7. Dr. Syeda Sana Ali; Project Scientist-III (Public Health); sana@prasho.org
  8. Ms. Kriti Shukla; Editor, Community Eye Health Journal, South Asia Edition kriti.shukla@prasho.org
  9. Ms. Sarah Jameel; Project Scientist-II (Public Health); sarah.j@prasho.org
  10. Dr. SarvaPriya Pandey; Project Scientist-I (Public Health); spriya.pandey@prasho.org
  11. Dr. Srinivas Imandi; Project Scientist-I (Public Health); srinivas.imandi@prasho.org
  12. Mr. Kaviyarasan Patchaiappal; Data Analyst; kavi.p@prasho.org
  13. Ms. Debangana Mahapatra; Data Analyst; debangana.m@prasho.org