By Soumya Swaminathan at the first time I met Keshav Desiraju was when he was the health secretary of Union and I was the Director of the Tuberculosis Research Center.
We are discussing the challenges in the TB control program.
What surprised me was that he could immediately destroy the problem, that he could identify what in a barrier in implementation and then looked for a constructive solution.
The second thing I noticed was that he was a very inclusive person, in the sense that he did not only listen to people in the position of power or behave in a hierarchical manner, but also paid to heed civil society groups, activists, NGOs.
and group of patients.
He acknowledged the importance of all the sounds in finding solutions, especially for diseases such as tuberculosis where social problems and behavior were very important.
His commitment to equity and social justice shines.
He took many initiatives when he was the Union Health Secretary.
One prominent is the development of national mental health policies.
And again the way he does it is very different.
He used people with direct experience and NGOs to develop the national mental health policy.
So, it’s not done above down but it’s done below up.
It will be an eternal contribution because mental health is still a matter of being ignored in India and globally.
While the policy still requires full implementation, the development of the detailed district level plan is the main and global major landmarks.
Keshav also plays a role in the creation of the national technical advisory group about immunization (ntagi).
This is a group that makes policy making about immunization, a group of national experts who decide which vaccines must enter the national program.
From becoming an ad hoc business, Ntagi is set in a prominent way and based on data and evidence, with technical sub-committees, which will check the problem.
The Committee is chaired by the Secretary of Health, Secretary, Health Research and Secretary and Department of Biotechnology, and has a number of different experts, including several critics of the national immunization program.
This process provides all the opportunities to be part of the discussion and express their views, and then the decision will be based on consensus.
It is a unique and innovative way to handle sensitive topics where all sounds are heard, but decisions are based on science.
I believe that Keshav also strengthens the governance of the National Health Mission, which is still in its formative years.
Keshav believes listening to voices from the community and being responsive.
I would say he is an ideal policy maker, which not only creates a visionary policy, but also sees that they are implemented.
He is a manless integrity man and takes a difficult attitude on tobacco and other health determinants.
He also tried to streamline medical education when he was secretary.
After he retired, I have been related to him and cooperated with him on a number of different initiatives, where he served in the role of advisors, some of them included.
Living in Tamil Nadu, which has several NGOs working on mental health, he was involved tightly and was useful, because it was something he really liked.
He also served in the role of advisors to several WHO departments, including alliances for health policy and system research, where he brought a very unique perspective as someone who had become a policy maker and decision maker, and who understood the importance of the research health system for policy makers.
He will complete his term at the Alliance Board in December.
So, it is another area where he will be very missed.
There are superior reports called health system learning, which will be launched on Monday.
And he has a leading role to play in developing this report.
He also has an important role to play in developing the strategy of the next five-year alliance and the strategy is also being resolved now.
(Dr.
Swaminathan is the main scientist of the World Health Organization)