Rakhal Gaitonde

Rakhal Gaitonde trained in community medicine at the Christian Medical College, Vellore, India, and studied for a PhD in Sweden. In Maharashtra he helped set up a people controlled health system and has worked with the Society for Community Health Awareness Research and Action (SOCHARA). He has worked on a gender and medical education programme in Trivandrum, and his interests include environment and occupational health. He advocates for communities whose lives have been adversely effected by pollution. Currently he is involved with the implementation of India’s National Rural Health Mission in Tamil Nadu and is an active member of the People's Health Movement. He is on the Tamil Nadu State NGO committee and chairs the community advisory board of the National Institute for Research on Tuberculosis. He also serves on the national ASHA mentoring group, which supports the government of India implement its large community health worker programme.

See Rakhal Gaitonde's declaration of competing interests.