Latest news with #AFPI
Time of India
5 days ago
- Health
- Time of India
India Needs 15,000 Family Doctors a Year by 2030 — But Has No Training Capacity to Match
New Delhi: A first-of-its-kind national survey has revealed a glaring mismatch between India's primary healthcare needs and its capacity to train family physicians. While 39.3 per cent of India's family doctors serve in rural areas, the country lacks the training infrastructure to meet the estimated need of 15,000 new family physicians annually by 2030, according to a Planning Commission projection. The survey, conducted across 28 states and union territories, collected responses from 272 family physicians, offering a rare glimpse into the scale, scope, and struggles of India's frontline generalists. Key Findings at a Glance: --48.3 per cent work in primary care, countering the myth that family physicians prefer urban or tertiary settings. --68.9 per cent are involved in hospital inpatient care, and 56.3 per cent provide emergency services. --66.2 per cent make home visits, and 62.0 per cent offer palliative care. --44.7 per cent of respondents were women, reflecting a gradual shift in gender representation. The data underscores the wide-ranging responsibilities family physicians undertake—from outpatient consultations to minor surgeries and childbirth—yet remain a chronically under-recognized and under-resourced workforce. 'This data paints a clear picture—family physicians are delivering essential, community-based care. Yet, training opportunities and structured job pathways remain severely lacking,' said Dr. Raman Kumar, Founding President of the Academy of Family Physicians of India (AFPI). Despite family medicine being mandated under the National Medical Commission Act 2019, implementation has been slow and inconsistent. The survey calls for urgent reforms, including: expansion of MD/DNB seats in family medicine, integration of family physicians into both public and private health systems and official recognition of family medicine as a core specialty across teaching hospitals 'The clinical reach and diversity of this workforce is immense. This is actionable data that must guide strategic investment in primary care,' said Dr. Archna Gupta, Clinician Scientist at St. Michael's Hospital, Canada. 'To build a resilient healthcare system, family medicine must become a respected, viable career path for medical graduates,' added Dr. Ramakrishna Prasad, Chair, AFPI's National Centre for Primary Care Research. The release coincides with National Doctors' Day 2025 , themed 'Behind the Mask: Caring for Caregivers', placing renewed focus on the country's most overlooked healthcare professionals—its family physicians. Though long advocated in national policy frameworks—from the National Health Policy 2002 to the NRHM Human Resources Taskforce—family medicine remains under-implemented. The survey serves as a data-backed call to action: Investing in family medicine is not optional—it's essential for achieving universal health coverage and reducing India's persistent rural-urban healthcare divide.
Hindustan Times
15-06-2025
- General
- Hindustan Times
3 cadets from Mai Bhago preparatory institute commissioned as flying officers in Air Force
Three alumnae of Mohali-based Mai Bhago Armed Forces Preparatory Institute (AFPI) for Girls – Harnoor Singh, Kritee S Bisht and Alisha – have been commissioned as flying officers in the Indian Air Force, after successfully passing out from the Air Force Academy, Dundigal (Hyderabad), on Saturday. The passing out parade was reviewed by Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh, PVSM, AVSM. Flying officers Harnoor Singh and Alisha have been commissioned in the education branch, while flying officer Kritee S Bisht has been commissioned as a flight controller in the administration branch of the Air Force. Flying officer Harnoor Singh is the daughter of Vikram Singh Bains, principal in a government school, and hails from Pathankot. Flying officer Kritee S Bisht is the daughter of Shakti Sharan Singh, a senior engineer at PACL, Nangal. Flying Officer Alisha is the daughter of Sunil Dutt, a teacher at a private school and hails from Jalandhar. Congratulating the three cadets, Punjab employment generation, skill development and training minister Aman Arora said their success will inspire more daughters of Punjab to pursue careers in the defence services.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
MAGA Think Tank Staffing Trump 2.0: America First Policy Institute
Dubbed a White House-in-waiting during his exile, the America First Policy Institute now seems nearly like another White House campus - almost half of President Trumps Cabinet is expected to address the AFPI policy summit this week in Washington, D.C. The roster of speakers reflects not just the rising influence of the new think tank but also the stunning reversal in Republican political fortunes. AFPI was born from failure. After the 2020 election, founder and then-CEO Brooke Rollins was looking to salvage the "Trump 2.0" policy portfolio, the detailed plans for a second presidential term that never came, or rather, one that was delayed. Her motivating question at the time: "How do we continue moving forward when we are no longer in the White House?" The answer will be on full display when assorted MAGA dignitaries kick off the summit Tuesday at the Kennedy Center by toasting "the America First Moment." After decamping to the Waldorf Astoria for the next two days, they will celebrate the crowning achievement of the young institute. Over 86% of the 196 federal policies that AFPI drafted and recommended in 2022, while Republicans were still in the wilderness, have been advanced or enacted during the first 100 Days of the Trump administration, RealClearPolitics is first to report. "President Trump has kept his promises. His administrations speed and clarity in acting on these priorities is not just impressive, its historic," said Greg Sindelar, who took over as interim CEO earlier this year. "The America First Agenda was always rooted in the needs of real people, not the whims of Washington. What were seeing now is the natural result of a movement that's aligned with the public, led by conviction, and governed with urgency." Some of the policies now implemented were already standard GOP boilerplate, like border security and economic deregulation, when AFPI made their recommendations. Others directly mirror institute white papers, like the plan to reclassify the employment status of thousands of civil servants, lay off large portions of the federal workforce, and remake the bureaucracy in Trumps own image. Known as "Schedule F," the expansion of executive authority was an Institute brainchild. Its mastermind, a policy wonk named James Sherk, went with Trump into the White House. So did many of the AFPI staff, and while some in the beltway will quibble over who originated what policy idea, what is undeniable is that the Trump think tank maxed out the maxim that personnel is policy. The AFPI people are everywhere in the White House and in key positions across the administration. By their count - and reported here for the first time - no less than 73 institute alumni now work for the president. The most prominent can be found seated next to Trump in the Cabinet Room. Rollins took a hiatus from the think tank to lead the Agriculture Department, while Linda McMahon, who chaired the AFPI board and later co-chaired the second Trump transition, now serves as the head of the Education Department. They are not the only former colleagues around the Cabinet table. Attorney General Pam Bondi led the think tanks legal arm before taking over the Department of Justice. Veteran Affairs Secretary Doug Collins was previously the chair of the AFPI state chapter in Georgia. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin helmed the institutes China initiative. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner led the Center for Education Opportunity. Other Cabinet-level officials who are AFPI alums include CIA Director John Ratcliffe, FBI Director Kash Patel, and National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett. It is a full house. And by design. "When we roll into 2024, we will have policies and we will have the people that are set to go," predicted Keith Kellogg before the Biden presidency had even reached the halfway point. When they were new in town, the first Trump transition team faced a personnel crisis, the retired Army lieutenant general told RCP, forcing the incoming White House to scramble to find qualified staff. But with AFPI as a talent scout, he said, Trump will not "have the JV team." Kellogg now serves as U.S. special envoy to Ukraine. And in this way, by identifying key personnel early and by hammering out policy ahead of time, AFPI built out-of-the-box instructions for the current president. More efficient than the original, Trump 2.0 has been defined by a flood-the-zone strategy. The speed has even awed some former Biden officials. One told Axios recently, "Gosh, I wish I could work for an administration that could move that quickly." While the administration raided the AFPI bench for talent, the think tank continues to churn out policy from its new headquarters in the offices adjacent to the luxurious Willard Intercontinental Hotel across the street from the White House. They have already replenished their ranks with 56 new hires this year. It is designed to be a full-stack operation. Kellyanne Conway, who served as senior counselor to the president in the first Trump White House, leads the AFPI polling operation. The topline of a poll commissioned ahead of the policy summit: "America First" policies are supported by the public by a 12-point margin (47% to 35%). Those numbers are central to the current and overall argument of the institute. The populism of Trump is more durable than just the current moment, they insist. They believe that it can and ought to serve as an enduring foundation for the next several decades of the GOP. Their ambitions are grand. "The road ahead is clear," said AFPI spokeswoman Jen Pellegrino. "Build on this foundation and lay the groundwork for an America First century." Philip Wegmann is White House correspondent for RealClearPolitics.
Fox News
16-04-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Farm fresh food initiative for Americans' tables means a ‘renaissance of agriculture'
A new initiative is aiming to "ensure rural America is prosperous and healthy again," including lowering production costs for farmers, bringing down the cost of food, and making healthy, natural food more accessible to Americans. The introduction of the "Farmers First Agenda" by the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) comes as HHS Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and USDA Sec. Brooke Rollins are pushing to bring farm-fresh foods to the homes and schools of Americans. The agenda, obtained by Fox News Digital, aims to guide federal and state policies while also working with the private sector. Listed among the goals is "generat[ing] responsible nutrition policy" as part of the effort to "Make America Healthy Again" (MAHA). Kip Tom, former Trump Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture, serves as vice-chair of the "Farmers First Agenda." Tom told Fox News Digital that AFPI welcomes a "renaissance of agriculture" as farmers want to help make America healthy. "Farmers from across the country have been talking about the MAHA movement and they embrace it," he said. "Today we have many choices at the grocery stores, more than we've ever had since when I was a child, but we need to make sure consumers understand the benefits of putting more red meat, more dairy, more vegetables and fruits into our diet," said Ambassador Tom. Freedom Farms owner Dana Cavalea told Fox News Digital recently that amid today's Make America Healthy Again movement, he has seen more people wanting to "get back to finding out where their food comes from." Cavalea shared that ever since he's been producing his own meat for his family, they can see the difference in quality. "The color was different. The flavor was different. The taste profile was different. And then we said, 'Well, what have we been eating all of these years?'" said Cavalea. Ambassador Tom told Fox News Digital, "American agriculture is still probably the safest food supply in the world because of the regulatory process we have in place." He added, though, that "the regulations we have in this country have become very burdensome for the U.S. consumer and the farmers." Fifth-generation farmer and Kentucky Agricultural Commissioner Jonathan Shell shared a similar sentiment. "Right now, red tape and bad trade deals make it harder for us to get our food onto school lunch trays and family dinner tables," Shell told Fox News Digital. Shell said, "We've got the land, the know-how, and the heart to feed this country. Farmers and ranchers across America are ready to grow and raise what our communities need — fresh fruits, vegetables and good, local meat." Shell, alongside his father, Gary, owns and operates Shell Farms and Greenhouses in Garrard County. They raise cattle and grow flowers, corn, and pumpkins. "When we think about bringing farm-fresh foods into our school systems across the country, it should be everywhere … It starts out with probably whole milk. It starts out [by] making sure we have access to fruits and vegetables that are fresh," said Tom. He said that fixing the supply chain and supporting innovation is key to the U.S. returning as the primary supplier of the world's food, fiber and energy systems. "We have the largest mass of quality, high-quality farmland in the United States. We have nearly 14,000 miles of navigable waterways," said Tom. "We need to create a renaissance again [so that] farmers have the opportunity to leverage those tools that our forefathers set us up for in the beginning."
Forbes
21-03-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Trump Must Challenge Foreign Freeloading, Not Copy It
"The Trump administration must confront foreign governments directly to end pharmaceutical ... More freeloading," writes Pipes. This morning, the America First Policy Institute released an issue brief highlighting a genuine problem—the rest of the world free-rides on American pharmaceutical innovation. American consumers bear most of the global costs associated with drug research and development and so subsidize lower prices abroad. President Trump is already working to address similar foreign freeloading—most notably by calling on our European NATO allies to contribute their fair share toward collective defense. He can, and should, apply the same firm approach to pharmaceutical pricing. Much of AFPI's analysis is correct. It accurately identifies foreign freeloading as detrimental to American patients and global research efforts. However, AFPI's proposed solution—a "most-favored-nation," or MFN, pricing policy that would set drug prices in Medicare based on the lowest prices paid in countries like Canada, the United Kingdom, and France—is fundamentally misguided. For starters, the MFN approach overlooks the complex dynamics of pharmaceutical pricing overseas. European countries use aggressive, government-backed negotiations to secure deep discounts from drug manufacturers. These "negotiations" often come with implicit and explicit threats. As just one example, if a manufacturer refuses to sell its products at dictated prices, a European government could retaliate by revoking its patents under Article 5 of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, which allows compulsory licensing when a patent holder declines to sell its product in a market. Plus, it isn't as if U.S. drug firms can simply band together and leave Europe if the continent refuses to pay more for drugs. Any coordinated efforts would be viewed as cartel-like behavior and trigger antitrust penalties under European Union competition laws. Given these constraints, pharmaceutical companies are effectively forced to accept artificially low prices abroad. Expecting American firms to respond to MFN by raising prices overseas simply isn't realistic. In other words, MFN wouldn't fix freeloading. But it would worsen the impact of European price controls on American innovation and investment. Adopting an MFN policy would effectively import Europe's price controls into our own healthcare system—and thereby jeopardize America's global leadership in pharmaceutical innovation. Developing a new drug currently costs about $2.6 billion, takes 10 to 15 years, and only about 12% of drugs entering clinical trials eventually reach patients. Despite these challenging odds, more than 60% of the world's innovative medicines are developed in the United States. If the MFN proposal becomes policy, critical investments in drug research and development could sharply decline. A National Bureau of Economic Research study estimates that reducing U.S. pharmaceutical prices by 40% to 50% could lead to a 30% to 60% reduction in research initiatives. Similarly, research from University of Connecticut economist Joseph Golec found that America would have lost more than 100 new medicines from 1986 to 2004 under European-style price controls. Beyond limiting future discoveries, MFN pricing would delay access to new medicines already in development. The majority of new drugs first debut in the United States. Pharmaceutical firms prioritize the U.S. market precisely because it fairly compensates them for their substantial research and regulatory costs before they face markets with capped prices abroad. Lowering American prices to match Europe's artificially low prices would intensify global freeloading rather than reduce it. Foreign governments would continue paying little, while U.S. research budgets would shrink. Competitors like China are rapidly expanding their biotechnology capabilities. MFN pricing risks shifting global medical innovation leadership from America to China. The United States possesses numerous trade tools and diplomatic levers to compel foreign countries to pay prices that reflect the true value of American-developed medicines. We need to use them. Price controls don't work, whether they're devised domestically or imported from abroad. The Trump administration must confront foreign governments directly to end pharmaceutical freeloading. Doing so will protect U.S. innovation, preserve patient access to groundbreaking treatments, and maintain America's unmatched global leadership in medical research.
