Hello and welcome to The Moving Curve. I’m Rukmini, a data journalist based in Chennai. Every night on this mini-cast, I consider one question around the novel coronavirus epidemic in India. Tonight I’m asking this one — what will the lockdown’s disruption in health services mean for the health of Indians now?
Dr SP Kalantri is a legend in the field. He is the Medical Superintendent at Kasturba Hospital & Professor of Medicine at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences in Wardha, which is in eastern Maharashtra’s deprived and rural region of Vidarbha. The depth and breadth of his experience is truly incredible — he is extremely knowledgeable not just about disease and illness based on his daily work, but also about medical research, about ethics, and about public policy. He was kind enough to speak to me for a two-part interview. Tonight I’m talking to him about the impact that the lockdown had on broader public health, and what this will mean for patients and doctors in the days ahead. Tomorrow night, I speak to him about managing covid-19 in rural India.
Thank you for listening. This episode was edited by Anand Krishnamoorthi. Tomorrow — a new question.
