Medical Crowdfunding in India: The Need for a Strong Legal Enforcement System

In India, poor health insurance coverage and high out-of-pocket expenditure especially for chronic and rare genetic/life-threatening diseases is a reality. People who use medical crowdfunding as an option to meet medical expenditures and the sudden growth of new fundraising platforms are significant developments in healthcare. The digital platforms in fundraising and the multitude of transactions they perform are increasing in the country and have a significant impact on the health sector and the rights of the patients which points toward the need for more effective regulation. In the absence of sector-specific legislation and government guidelines, the paper summarizes the growth of medical crowdfunding in India, identifies the challenges, and reiterates the need for effective legal enforcement systems

Impact of Coastal Disasters on Women in Urban Slums: A New Index

Coastal hazards, particularly cyclones, floods, erosion and storm surges, are emerging as a cause for major concern in the coastal regions of Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India. Serious coastal disaster events have become more common in recent decades, triggering substantial destruction to the low-lying coastal areas and a high death toll. Further, women living in informal and slum housing along the Vijayawada coastline of Andhra Pradesh (CAP), India, suffer from multiple social, cultural and economic inequalities as well. These conditions accelerate and worsen women’s vulnerability among this coastal population. The existing literature demonstrates these communities’ susceptibility to diverse coastal disasters but fails to offer gender-specific vulnerability in urban informal housing in the Vijayawada area. Accordingly, the current study developed a novel gender-specific Women’s Coastal Vulnerability Index (WCVI) to assess the impact of coastal disasters on women and their preparedness in Vijayawada. Field data was collected from over 300 women through surveys (2) and workshops (2) between November 2018 and June 2019, and Arc-GIS tools were used to generate vulnerability maps. Results show that women are more vulnerable than men, with a higher death rate during coastal disaster strikes. The current study also found that gender-specific traditional wear is one of the main factors for this specific vulnerability in this area. Furthermore, the majority of the women tend to be located at home to care for the elders and children, and this is associated with more fatalities during disaster events. Homes, particularly for the urban poor, are typically very small and located in narrow and restricted sites, which are a barrier for women to escape from unsafe residential areas during disasters. Overall, the research reveals that most of the coastal disaster events had a disproportionately negative impact on women. The results from this present study offer valuable information to aid evidence-based policy- and decision-makers to improve existing or generate innovative policies to save women’s lives and improve their livelihood in coastal areas

The Second Wave of COVID-19 and Beyond

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic coupled with long-standing systemic, functional, and health inequities put the rural communities at an increased risk. Sustainable long- and short-term measures are suggested to efficiently develop strategies to control the pandemic and strengthen the health system in rural India

Right Versus Wrong: A Qualitative Appraisal With Respect to Pandemic Trajectories of Transgender Population in Kerala, India

The transgender population generally faces rights violations and discrimination in their day-to-day lives, which was exacerbated during the recent pandemic. This necessitates close scrutiny from an ethics perspective. Following directives from a 2014 Supreme Court judgement, Kerala became the first Indian state to implement a comprehensive policy to enforce the constitutional rights of transgender people. Despite such positive actions, a basic social tendency not to respect gender diversity has led to discrimination and marginalization. This was very evident during the pandemic. In this empirical work, we have documented the lives of the transgender community during the pandemic wherein they share experiences related to livelihood, interaction with the healthcare system, and acceptance in society vis-à-vis the pandemic. Simply providing third-gender status will not help the gender-marginalized community to grow to their fullest potential and have a better lifestyle on par with others in mainstream society

Fear, discrimination, and healthcare access during the COVID-19 pandemic: Exploring women domestic workers’ lives in India

This article explores the fear, stigma, discrimination, work-life balance, household dynamics, and healthcare access of women domestic workers in India during the COVID-19 pandemic. The women domestic workers interviewed mainly belonged to the lower strata of society, where survival is mainly based on day-to-day earnings. The pandemic has substantially changed the workplace environment, and the vulnerability of women has increased tremendously. Women report sleeplessness, a trust deficit, and experiences of loss of self-dignity. Economic insecurity is widely reported, which in turn affects social life and quality of life. It is evident that instances of fear and anxiety are due to a lack of safety at the workplace and drastically reduced income levels. Instances of loss of basic dignity at the workplace or while travelling to the workplace are also widely shared. Women reported a significant increase in the workload at home, decreased intake of food, and reduced healthcare seeking. Lack of rest and self-care is the first change that women reported, because the long time spent on home and work responsibilities are taken for granted by other members of the family. Women also reported increased incidences of domestic violence and sexual abuse. This is mainly because, in this patriarchal society, men are ventilating their frustration about joblessness, wage reduction, and alcohol non-availability due to the pandemic on women at home. Psychological stress, confusion, and restlessness were commonly observed during our conversations. The majority of women either discontinued or stopped their ongoing treatment both for reproductive health and chronic diseases during the pandemic, due to non-affordability and lack of other support. This article argues that women domestic workers endured fear, stigma, loss of dignity, domestic violence, sexual abuse, and compromised self-care during the pandemic, and the male-dominated society is normalising such practices