Now Reading: Mallika Sarabhai stresses health communication at IIHMR TEDx
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Mallika Sarabhai stresses health communication at IIHMR TEDx
Classical dancer and choreographer Mallika Sarabhai has stressed the need for effective health communication focusing on malnutrition, sexual and mental health, and community empowerment. She was speaking at the fourth edition of…
Classical dancer and choreographer Mallika Sarabhai has stressed the need for effective health communication focusing on malnutrition, sexual and mental health, and community empowerment. She was speaking at the fourth edition of TEDx organised by the Indian Institute of Health Management Research (IIHMR) University in Jaipur.
The event, themed 'Ignite the unseen', brought together activists working on child rights, disability, public health, performing arts, music, entrepreneurship, and wildlife conservation. Ms Sarabhai said conversations around mental health and sexuality, which rarely happen in society, could bust myths and move people's consciences.
"Talking about the unseen, about shame, and about malnutrition and violence is part of health communication," said the Padma Bhushan recipient. IIHMR University president P.R. Sodani said new ideas in healthcare could challenge perspectives and inspire meaningful changes.
Indian Opinion Analysis
This TEDx edition underscores a growing recognition that healthcare outcomes in India are shaped as much by communication as by clinical intervention. Stigma around malnutrition, mental health, and sexuality remains a barrier to effective public health programmes across many states. The Rajasthan government's own National Family Health Survey data shows high rates of anaemia and stunting, conditions worsened by silence on diet and care practices. Community-based approaches that reframe local myths, as Ms Sarabhai described, have been tested by NGOs but rarely scaled within state health systems. The next indicator to watch is whether IIHMR University or its partners pilot any such communication model in district-level health centres in Rajasthan.
Source: thehindu.com
This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
