Uploaded October 2021 | Updated September 2026, 6 minutes ago
Access to reliable concurrent data on infections and related deaths is key for managing a pandemic with timely actions. Owing to its historically poor vital registration process India lacks this crucial information. This panel discussion focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic and the role of data offer alternative data sources and strategies for managing the current pandemic and future perspectives on developing strong data systems for managing the pandemics in a developing country like India.
A panel discussion with:
Professor Jane Heyworth (Panel Facilitator), Honorary Research Fellow Population and Global Health, the University of Western Australia
Professor Jane Heyworth is an environmental epidemiologist with over thirty years’ experience in environmental health research, policy and practice. Her main research areas are assessing the impacts of air and water quality on health. In addition, she has worked with NGOs in India, Sri Lanka and Nepal in promoting water safety and health aspects of rainwater harvesting and storage.
Professor Ramanan Laxminarayan, Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy, University of Washington.
Professor Ramanan Laxminarayan is the founder and Director of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (CDDEP) in Washington, D.C., a senior research scholar at Princeton University and affiliate professor at the University of Washington. He has played a central role in bringing the issue of drug resistance to the attention of leaders and policymakers worldwide and to the United Nations General Assembly in September 2016. He has served on President Obama's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology’s antimicrobial resistance working group, and is a voting member of the U.S. Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antimicrobial Resistance.
Professor Prabhat Jha, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto
Topic: Estimates of COVID-attributable excess mortality in India
Professor Prabhat Jha is the Director of Centre for Global Health Research and University Professor and Professor of Global Health at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. He is the lead investigator of the Indian Million Death Study which documents the causes of premature mortality in over 3 million homes in India from 1997-2014.
Professor George Milne, School of Physics, Maths and Computing, Computer Science and Software Engineering, the University of Western Australia
Topic: Modelling to inform COVID-19 response policy
Professor George Milne is a mathematical modeller with a research focus on infectious diseases. He has led development of highly-detailed, community-based models for pandemic and seasonal influenza, dengue virus, and COVID-19. These models are being used to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of social distancing and vaccination strategies, aimed at reducing infections, hospitalisations and deaths. Current research is aimed at determining optimal vaccination strategies for SARS-CoV-2 viruses, under a range of transmissions settings.
Access to reliable concurrent data on infections and related deaths is key for managing a pandemic with timely actions. Owing to its historically poor vital registration process India lacks this crucial information. This panel discussion focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic and the role of data offer alternative data sources and strategies for managing the current pandemic and future perspectives on developing strong data systems for managing the pandemics in a developing country like India.
A panel discussion with:
Professor Jane Heyworth (Panel Facilitator), Honorary Research Fellow Population and Global Health, the University of Western Australia
Professor Jane Heyworth is an environmental epidemiologist with over thirty years’ experience in environmental health research, policy and practice. Her main research areas are assessing the impacts of air and water quality on health. In addition, she has worked with NGOs in India, Sri Lanka and Nepal in promoting water safety and health aspects of rainwater harvesting and storage.
Professor Ramanan Laxminarayan, Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy, University of Washington.
Professor Ramanan Laxminarayan is the founder and Director of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (CDDEP) in Washington, D.C., a senior research scholar at Princeton University and affiliate professor at the University of Washington. He has played a central role in bringing the issue of drug resistance to the attention of leaders and policymakers worldwide and to the United Nations General Assembly in September 2016. He has served on President Obama's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology’s antimicrobial resistance working group, and is a voting member of the U.S. Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antimicrobial Resistance.
Professor Prabhat Jha, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto
Topic: Estimates of COVID-attributable excess mortality in India
Professor Prabhat Jha is the Director of Centre for Global Health Research and University Professor and Professor of Global Health at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. He is the lead investigator of the Indian Million Death Study which documents the causes of premature mortality in over 3 million homes in India from 1997-2014.
Professor George Milne, School of Physics, Maths and Computing, Computer Science and Software Engineering, the University of Western Australia
Topic: Modelling to inform COVID-19 response policy
Professor George Milne is a mathematical modeller with a research focus on infectious diseases. He has led development of highly-detailed, community-based models for pandemic and seasonal influenza, dengue virus, and COVID-19. These models are being used to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of social distancing and vaccination strategies, aimed at reducing infections, hospitalisations and deaths. Current research is aimed at determining optimal vaccination strategies for SARS-CoV-2 viruses, under a range of transmissions settings.
