Knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world.
- Louis Pasteur
In this episode of IDRF Speaks we will be speaking to Dr. Bhaskar Rajakumar who heads the BBMP Covid 19 War Room at Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). The BBMP is the municipal corporation/ local governing body of the Bengaluru metropolitan area.
In this interview we will look at the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of someone who was very much in the front line and contributed to policy and decisions. Dr. Rajakumar is trained as a clinician and radiologist, he is passionate about health and health care management. We were lucky to get an opportunity to chat with him and explore Indian healthcare and infectious diseases from his vantage point. I hope you enjoy the conversation.
In the course of the interview with cover a range of topics - #publicHealth #coverageAndQuality #indianHealthCare #pandemicManagement, updating knowledge as a medical professional #BBMPCovid19WarRoom #5Ts (Test, Trace, Track, Treat and Technology) - challenges of the COVID-19 war room and future directions.
I especially enjoyed this conversation because it gave me some initial pointers on the systemic approach to preparedness - opening questions like -What are the gaps when it comes to the detection and treatment of infectious diseases in the country? How do we think of preparedness from a systemic perspective? and What were the lessons from COVID-19 that we can take forward when faced with challenged posed by antimicrobial resistance and other emerging infectious diseases?
Episode 03: Infectious Diseases- perspective from a COVID-19 war room