Shalini Anand

Shalini Anand is a former television health journalist from India who reported on public health issues for nine years for a leading national news channel CNN-New18 (Indian affiliate of CNN International). She has extensively reported on disease outbreaks (H1N1, dengue), medical breakthroughs and public health epidemics such as HIV and AIDS, TB, malnutrition and non-communicable diseases. Tobacco control has held a special focus in her reportage – she has closely followed the public health policy and its implementation and has investigated government investments in the tobacco industry in the country. She has also led TV campaigns against smokeless tobacco (gutka), pushing for a ban across states, and was one of the first to present industry voices exposing corruption issues.

Anand is trained in global tobacco control leadership at the Johns Hopkins University and the University of California, San Francisco. She holds a master’s degree in political science and degrees in mass communication and humanities.

She now works as a public health advocate and has been associated with the Government of India’s immunization program, designing public health communication strategies for new vaccine introduction and vaccine risk communication. She is also involved in implementing public health campaigns and developing sustainable communication systems for outreach. Currently working with the Centre for Disease Dynamics Economics and Policy, she continues to write for the British Medical Journal and other news sites on public health issues.