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PQLI according to parks textbook

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Here is the complete account of PQLI as given in Park's Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine:

Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI)

Definition / Background

The Physical Quality of Life Index is a composite index developed to address the difficulty of defining and measuring quality of life. Rather than relying on economic inputs (like per capita GNP), it consolidates three outcome indicators that measure the results of development policies.

The Three Components

ComponentWhat it measures
Infant Mortality RateSurvival in early life
Life Expectancy at age 1Longevity (measured from age 1, not birth)
Literacy rateBasic educational attainment
These three were chosen because they:
  • Measure results rather than inputs
  • Lend themselves to international and national comparison

How PQLI is Calculated

  • For each of the three components, a country's performance is placed on a scale of 0 to 100:
    • 0 = absolutely defined "worst" performance
    • 100 = absolutely defined "best" performance
  • The composite PQLI is calculated by averaging the three indicators, giving equal weight to each
  • The resulting PQLI is thus also scaled 0 to 100
  • Ultimate objective = attain a PQLI of 100

Key Features and Significance

  • Does not include per capita GNP - this is intentional, to show that "money is not everything"
  • PQLI does not measure economic growth; it measures the results of social, economic, and political policies
  • It is intended to complement, not replace, GNP

Illustrative Examples from the Text

  • Oil-rich Middle East countries: High per capita income, but not very high PQLIs
  • Sri Lanka and Kerala (India): Low per capita incomes, but high PQLIs - showing that social policy matters more than wealth alone
Source: Park's Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine (ISBN 9789382219163), Section: Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI), p. block 1, lines 1407-1430.

Sentinel surveillance

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Here is a complete account of Sentinel Surveillance as covered in Park's Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine:

Sentinel Surveillance

Definition / Concept

No routine notification system can identify all cases of infection or disease. A method for identifying the missing cases and thereby supplementing the notified cases is required - this is known as sentinel surveillance.
  • Sentinel data is extrapolated to the entire population to estimate disease prevalence in the total population

Advantages

  1. Reporting biases are minimized
  2. Feed-back of information to the providers is simplified

Who Are Sentinel Surveillance Agencies?

Sentinel surveillance agencies could be:
  • Interested and competent physicians in selected areas
  • Institutions in selected areas
...reporting cases of disease in their respective areas.
This system provides more valuable and detailed information than the traditional notification system. These sentinel sites can eventually be developed into a full notification system for providing more detailed information, which in some settings may be less costly than developing and maintaining an ongoing notification system.

Sentinel Surveillance in Malaria (India)

One weakness of the existing malaria surveillance system is the lack of articulation with hospitals, meaning:
  • Severe malaria cases are not reported separately
  • Only a small fraction of malaria deaths are recorded
Therefore, sentinel surveillance is being established in high endemic districts, by selecting:
  • 1-3 sentinel sites in large hospitals per district (depending on district size)
  • For recording all out-patient and in-patient cases of malaria, and malaria-related deaths

Sentinel Surveillance in HIV (India)

HIV sentinel surveillance is one of six types of HIV surveillance used in India:
  • (a) HIV Sentinel Surveillance
  • (b) HIV Sero-Surveillance
  • (c) AIDS Case Surveillance
  • (d) STD Surveillance
  • (e) Behavioural Surveillance
  • (f) Integration with surveillance of other diseases
The key features of HIV sentinel surveillance are:
  • Surveillance of high-risk populations through targeted intervention sites
  • Additional sub-set of rural samples through antenatal clinics (ANC)
HIV Sentinel Surveillance sites (2016-17):
Site typeNumber (2016-17)
ANC (Antenatal Clinics)829
IDU (Injecting Drug Users)+ others

Sentinel Surveillance for Dengue & Chikungunya

  • The Government of India (in consultation with states) has identified 521 sentinel surveillance hospitals with laboratory support for augmentation of diagnostic facilities in endemic states
  • The same 521 sentinel surveillance hospitals involved in dengue also carry out chikungunya tests in affected states

Sentinel Surveillance for AES/JE (Acute Encephalitis Syndrome / Japanese Encephalitis)

  • In the sentinel surveillance network, AES/JE is diagnosed by IgM Capture ELISA, and virus isolation is also used
Source: Park's Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine - "Sentinel Surveillance" sections (block1, lines 4087-4100; block6, lines 4126-4136)
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