Our Work
The Centre for Health Equity Law & Policy (C-HELP) engages in Research & Advocacy aimed at developing and disseminating knowledge on law and policy issues as they pertain to health. This includes analysing and advising on proposed or extant legislation, policy or practice, convening expert fora, undertaking research projects, and engagement with actors in law, policy and related disciplines.
C-HELP engages in Legal Literacy & Capacity-building aimed at informing people about the law, its utility, and the rights and obligations contained within it in relation to health issues. This is done through legal education, workshops, and using new media as tools to make law and policy more accessible and relatable to the citizenry.
Vision
Appropriate and effective use of law and policy, both as legislated and implemented, is vital in addressing various aspects of social justice, including inequities in health. A salient illustration is the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which was most effectively countered through key public health and social interventions, supported by evidence-informed and rational deployment of legislation, enforcement, and policy guidance. This use of the law is grounded in the knowledge that empowering those who are most vulnerable is the most effective way to stem the spread of HIV.
C-HELP is an initiative that takes these lessons and applies and adapts them across other health contexts and priorities. It also aims to use law in conjunction with other disciplines – economics, sociology, anthropology, public health, communication, governance etc. – to find holistic and systemic solutions to inequities in health.
Values
In its essence C-HELP aims to contribute to health and well being that is achievable for all, using law as a critical paradigm through which this social good can be attained. It is committed to humanist and inclusive social justice approaches that are founded on the imperatives of accountability, quality, accessibility, affordability and fairness. It is moored in the vision of a society that reaches its full potential by achieving a meaningful right to health for every person and community, informed by evidence on what works to serve individual and collective health goals.
Team
C-HELP is helmed and staffed by legal experts who have vast experience in working at the intersections of health, law and policy in India and globally, including on extensive research projects, trainings and capacity enhancement of various health-related stakeholders, drafting legislation, litigating seminal cases, engaging with civil society, advising governments, and managing large-scale global initiatives.
Vivek Divan is Coordinator of the centre. His expertise for over two decades has been at the intersections of law, health and sexuality with particular focus on HIV, TB and LGBTQ concerns. He has worked both nationally and internationally on these issues, including leading efforts to challenge section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, drafting a Bill that became India’s HIV/AIDS Act in 2017, building capacity on patent law and access to medicines, serving as member of the Secretariat and Technical Advisory Group of the Global Commission on HIV & the Law, and co-authoring the Legal Environment Assessment on TB in India. He has participated as an expert advisor and speaker at various national and international fora, and has published widely. He obtained his law degree from NLSIU, Bangalore, and an LL.M. from Cornell University.
Coordinator
VIVEK DIVAN
Shivangi Rai is the Deputy Coordinator of C-HELP. She has 15 years’ experience in research, advocacy, capacity building, litigation and law & policy development in instilling a ‘right to health’ framework in health laws, policies and programmes. At Lawyers Collective HIV/AIDS Unit, she worked on HIV, TB, access to treatment, patents, LGBT issues (including constitutional challenge to Sec. 377), gender, sex work and drug use, from a health and human rights perspective. From 2015-20, at NHSRC, a technical body under MoHFW, she led drafting of several bills – National Public Health Bill, Digital Information Security in Healthcare Bill and on human milk banking. She also drafted the National Policy on Treatment of Rare Diseases in 2018, and guidelines on mental health and palliative care services within primary health care. Shivangi graduated from ILS Law College,Pune and holds an LL.M. from Warwick University, UK.
Deputy Coordinator
SHIVANGI RAI
Shefali Malhotra is a Research Consultant with C-HELP. Her research focuses on the politics and governance of emerging health technologies in India. In 2020, she completed her post-graduation in political science at the Leiden University, Netherlands. Prior to this, her research focused on health financing and health policy regulation in India. In 2010, she received a bachelor's degree in law from Symbiosis Law School, Pune.
Research Consultant
SHEFALI MALHOTRA
Suraj Sanap is a Research Consultant with C-HELP. His work focused on constitutional law, gender and sexuality, HIV/AIDS and labour through research, advocacy and litigation at Lawyers Collective. He has experience in working on the challenge to the anti-sodomy law, offering legal support to queer communities in South East Asia and Africa and working with trans, queer and PLHIV communities on drafting rights-based laws in India. He graduated from Government Law College, Mumbai in 2013.
Research Consultant
SURAJ SANAP
Aditi Doneria is the Multimedia and Communications Officer at C-HELP. She has a deep interest in development communications. Aditi holds a graduate degree in journalism from Delhi University and a Master's degree in social work specializing in criminology and justice from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. She has worked as a Development and Communications Associate with iTeach Schools, a non-profit organization focused on providing quality education to underprivileged students. She has experience in fundraising, partnerships, and communications.
Communications & Administrative Officer
ADITI DONERIA
Anima Anjuri is a Programme Associate at C-HELP. She has experience in research and legal literacy. Her interest lies in researching the linkages between emergency response to gender-based violence against women, public health administration and the criminal justice system. She has an LL.M. from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.
Research Fellow
ANIMA ANJURI
Harshda Bargal is a Programme Associate at C-HELP. Her research areas include Reproductive Justice, Gender Justice, Interdisciplinary and, Law and Social Transformation. Harshda completed B.A.(hon.) LL.B from Savitribai Phule Pune University and has an LL.M in Law and Development from Azim Premji University, Bangalore.
Research Associate
HARSHDA BARGAL
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Arnav Mahurkar is a Program Associate at C-HELP. He has a versatile professional and educational background in the intersection of law, healthcare, and technology. He holds a Master of Science in Health Economics from Erasmus University Rotterdam, a Bachelor of Science in Governance, Economics, and Development from Leiden University College, and a Bachelor of Laws from Lloyd Law College. Arnav worked in Compliance and Implementations for a Health IT Startup serving major Pharmaceutical companies, Hospitals, and Nonprofits. He also worked on independent projects at the intersection of workflow management and compliance in Health IT.
Research Associate
ARNAV MAHURKAR
Reonia Mathew is a Programme Associate at C-HELP. Her research areas include recent trends in abortion, gender-based violence and advocating for the right to health in relation to minority communities. Their internship experience includes advocating for legal literacy, and research and drafting for the enforcement of rights of persons with disabilities, and victims of sexual offences.
She obtained her B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) from Christ (Deemed to be University), Bangalore in 2024.
REONIA MATHEW
Research Associate
Falguni Singh is a Research Associate at
C-HELP, bringing experience in human rights law and research. She completed her Advanced LL.M. in European and International Human Rights Law from Leiden Law School, and B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) in Criminal Law from the National University of Law, Patiala. With experience at organisations such as KidsRights and SEEK Feminist Research Network, Falguni has conducted in-depth legal research, managed youth programs, and advocated for the inclusion of marginalised groups. She is passionate about fostering social justice and enhancing health and human rights frameworks through her work.
Research Associate
Falguni Singh
Shreya Eliza Sunny is a Research Associate at C-HELP. Her research interests lie in gender justice and the intersection of technology and law. She has experience in anti-trafficking advocacy and gender-based violence research and has worked to promote legal literacy among women facing challenges in litigation.
Shreya completed her BA LLB (Hons) from CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bangalore, and holds an LLM in Law and Development from Azim Premji University, Bangalore.
Research Associate
Shreya Eliza Sunny