The State Health Department is contemplating extending the Karnataka Brain Health Initiative (Ka-BHI) to all districts. Recognising the need to improve treatment and prevent neurological disorders in the community, the Health Department in association with NIMHANS and Niti Aayog launched Ka-BHI in January. NIMHANS has trained 100 doctors at the PHC level for brain health clinics in Bengaluru South, Kolar and Chickballapur districts, which were chosen for the pilot project.
State Health Commissioner Randeep D. told The Hindu that he has asked NIMHANS to submit a proposal on replicating the Ka-BHI model in the remaining 27 districts.
“The idea is to diagnose and treat neurological issues from the grassroots level of primary health centres to secondary-level district hospitals, and then NIMHANS at the tertiary level. We have learnt from NIMHANS doctors that half of the patients who come to the institution from the districts can be attended to at the local health facility,” he said.
Suvarna Alladi, professor and head of the Department of Neurology at NIMHANS, said, “For the first time in India, PHC doctors are being certified in the treatment of common neurological diseases. A training programme for ASHA workers has been developed to screen patients with neurological disorders at health and wellness centres and in homes, so that early identification and treatment can be provided at the grassroots level.”
Memory screening camp
To mark World Alzheimer’s Day on September 21, NIMHANS, in association with Rotary-Midtown Bengaluru, started a ‘Keep your memories alive’ campaign, which included organising a memory screening camp, dementia awareness program and brain health promotional activities at the Jayanagar general hospital.
Similar camps and brain health awareness activities were conducted in S.N.R. Hospital in Kolar on September 20, and the Chikkaballapur district hospital on September 19.
Reports submitted
Doctors from NIMHANS submitted the World Alzheimer’s Report 2022 and the STRiDE (Strengthening Responses to Dementia in Developing Countries) report to the Health Commissioner and Principal Secretary (Health).
STRiDE is an international project, conducted between 2018-2021 (with extension to early 2022), in seven low and middle-income countries — India, Indonesia, Mexico, Jamaica, Brazil, Kenya, and South Africa. In India, NIMHANS and Alzheimer’s and Related Disorders Society of India (ARDSI) worked together to complete various sub-projects of STRiDE, such as an in-depth situational analysis of dementia care, treatment and support landscape in India, a qualitative study to understand stigma, and another qualitative study to understand costs and consequences of unpaid care for persons with dementia, said Dr. Alladi, who is the lead author of this project report.
