Interview "Formality"
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World Health Organization, an International NGO, which is often given credit for doing Great Work, in developing Nations, but sometimes such organizations have to be looked with more Critical View Point, as they have tonnes of Vested Interest, fostering agenda of their Organization and their Corporate buddies.
Lets recall the maddening rush for Tamiflu, after Swine Flu alarm sounded by WHO, it was a carefully engineered Social ploy, which not only caused unnecessary panic, which was the main Goal, to increase sales of a Drug, which otherwise would not have seen such huge Bottom lines. I myself was on the Field, in Mumbai, where the Panic was so massive and mass media, further perpetuating the cycle.
In the cacaphony of Corporatized Mass Media, we hear News Reports less often than sensualized High Decibel stories from some Indian blondie. By blondie, I mean "Beauty without Brains". Well why do they need Brains, because people watching them over the "Idiot Box", are already Stupid enough to accept One Way Communication, as they have already accepted passive Content Bombardment, without Active Analytico-Critical thinking. How can they, when they don't Read, just Watch "Idiot People giving Stupid Messages" all the time.
Anyways lets go to another aspect of WHO NPSP, where NPSP stands for National Polio Surveillance Project. Well one has to understand, WHO as well as their instituted NPSP, has huge Vested Interest, in ensuring, Polio persist, as it creates a lot of Employment, a lot of Diversion of Resources and lastly keeps the Funding going. A friend of mine Dr Vinay, who happens to graduate from IIM Ahmedabad, happened to work as SMO, that is Surveillance Medical Officer of NPSP. He used say, "Ankit, if they really wanted to solve the problem, they should have focused on Strengthening Universal Immunization Programme, thereby covering more people with more diseases. But here NPSP, diverts the existing resources from the Healthcare System to work on specifically Polio Campaigns". His comments raised huge question, that remain unanswered, but spoke of a deeper Crisis of Vested Interest.
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Lastly, WHO has been pushing for Digitization of Health Information System, upon investigating further, one sees funding comes from World Bank, followed by the approach to implementation of technology is not for empowerment of Grass Root, Health system workers or even the Patients for that matter, but a system that shall enable Geneva based, Corporate Headquarter bosses, to make Great Presentations for their Corporate Sponsors and Donors. This is a classical "Top-Down" approach described by, faculties at Johns Hopkins University.
We learn from these Great Teachers such as Benjamin Lozare and Henry Mosley, who have helped me understand, the Learning and Action disconnect. As this the Action is taking place at the Grassroots, but the Information being collected and communicated at the Top of the Pyramid, where the people sitting in Air Conditioned, board rooms of WHO drawing a salary in Swiss Francs, are deciding whether the progress is being made at the Grassroots and whether we should change the direction, but never such learning reaching the Grassroots enabling people to understand and take the informed decision. Of course not to mention the Scope of Participation of the Grassroot workers.
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