The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) will soon initiate multi-centric social and behavioural research on the broad areas of delivery and utilisation of health care services and newer technologies; gender issues; adolescents' behaviour and health; and on diseases with stigma. Through this research the council plans to get information on various services provided to the public.
Elaborating on the subject of delivery and utilisation of health care services and newer technologies, a senior ICMR official said that the utilization of services by the communities is affected not only by their own perceptions and beliefs about the diseases, the treatment, and service providers but also the manner in which services are organized and delivered to the people. Distance to service facility, timing, range of services & provision for supplies, sex and behaviour of the providers etc. become important factors for people of different sections of society and gender accessing the services.
On Gender Issues, the official said that due to policy shift, the issues such as women reproductive rights, informed choice, right to information, right to decide, right to effective and accessible services and right against harmful practices have come to occupy the centrestage. Discrimination against women in health provisions, violence against women (physical, sexual and psychological), unsafe abortion, maternal mortality and problems peculiar to women's health are the issues agitating the minds of the policy makers.
In view of the magnitude of the problem and consequent adverse effects on the reproductive and psychological health of the women, there is need to understand the psychosocial dynamics so as to plan the strategies to raise the status of women and empower them. All these call for a social and behavioural research input to understand the various aspects involved, he said.
On the issue of Adolescent's Behaviour & Health, the official said that the adolescents, who constitute about 22 percent of our population, have been recognized both nationally & internationally an important and critical group of population. The reproductive health matters including sexuality of adolescent is a very major area of concern. Other issues concerning this group are adjustment, stress, substance use, early marriage and pregnancy, social and sexual abuse, STDs, reproductive health and population control. He added that there is a need to understand the awareness and other social and psychological dynamics so as to plan effective service programmes including sex education for this group of population.
The ICMR study will also focus on the issues related to the diseases with stigma. Diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and leprosy which have stigma associated with them pose peculiar and serious difficulties to both the patients as well as the health services and providers of services. Denial of the disease and not seeking the services and desertions of patients by the families for fear of stigma and infection further complicate the problem. Lack of privacy of services and confidentiality of diagnosis are deterrents for seeking the services. Social and behavioural research on these issues should provide leads for planning effective intervention strategies to combat stigma and ensure effective treatment for the diseases.
The ICMR has already invited concept proposals for the research from the qualifying scientists from the country. The concept proposals will be reviewed by a group of experts in each area. Those submitting the concept proposals must be working in a permanent faculty position in a Medical College, University, Research Institution of government or NGOs recognised as research bodies.