Health Communication in India by Shalini Narayanan, Sunetra Sen Narayan

India accounts for 20% of the global disease burden despite having only 17% of the world’s population, underscoring the critical need for effective health communication. This volume delves into how the world’s most populous democracy addresses health communication challenges across its vast linguistic, cultural, and socio-economic diversity, offering vital insights for global health practitioners.

Organized into three parts, the book traces the evolution of health communication in India. The first part establishes theoretical foundations from psychology, sociology, and mass communication that shape Indian practices. The second examines specific diseases—cancer, tuberculosis, leprosy, and COVID-19—through traditional media such as print, broadcast, and film. The third explores cutting-edge digital advancements, including mHealth tools for primary health workers, artificial intelligence, and the growing challenge of health misinformation. Featuring contributions from national and international scholars, practitioners, journalists, NGO workers, and a bureaucrat, the book presents diverse perspectives. Case studies highlight innovative approaches like Positive Deviance for malnutrition, destigmatization campaigns for leprosy, and patient navigation systems that enhance provider–patient communication.

As India confronts persistent health inequities alongside notable achievements, this volume is essential for postgraduate students, researchers, practitioners, policymakers, journalists, and government officials. This will be of interest to those in the fields of health communication, public health, digital health and technology, journalism, media studies, sociology of health and illness, and psychology.