Cross-sector initiative for universal health coverage launched

The Lancet Citizens’ Commission on Reimagining India’s Health System, a cross-sector initiative to develop a residents’ roadmap to attaining universal health coverage (UHC) in India over a interval of ten years, was launched on-line on Friday.

The fee’s co-chairs introduced on the occasion on Friday night that it was a first-of-its-kind participatory, countrywide initiative, in collaboration with world’s main health journal The Lancet and the Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute, Harvard University.

The COVID-19 pandemic had uncovered many schisms in society, impacted India’s public health system, and confirmed the significance of accessibility to high quality healthcare and UHC, stated Tarun Khanna, director of the Institute.

The mission of the Commission is to put out the trail to attaining UHC in India within the coming decade, working with all stakeholders. “We expect that the Commission will formulate a roadmap for realising a resilient health system that offers comprehensive, accountable, accessible, inclusive, and affordable quality health care to all citizens in India. Although we recognise the important role that social determinants have in influencing health, the focus of the Commission will be on the architecture of India’s health system,” an article in The Lancet listed out.

“Health care in India was in dire need of reform long before the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite considerable progress across health indicators such as maternal and infant mortality, disease burden in India is disproportionately high,” the article added. The scenario is exacerbated by structural inequities of caste, class, gender, geography, and group in India that translate into health inequalities and are amplified by the state of the health system.

The Commission can be guided by 4 rules: first, UHC covers all health considerations; secondly, prevention and long-term care are key. Thirdly, the priority is monetary safety for all health prices, and at last, aspiring for a health system that may be accessed by all who get pleasure from the identical high quality.

The co-chairs, in the course of the launch, burdened on the state’s function as a pacesetter within the sector, however to fulfil this function, it should grapple with the advanced and fragmented structure of India’s health system. Speaking on the event, Sowmya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist, World Health Organization, urged the group to have a look at gaps when it comes to indicators, and take a look at finest practices even inside India, to copy elsewhere.

The fee will allow participatory public engagement to develop a residents’ blueprint for the implementation of UHC. To this finish, they’ve referred to as for contributions and companions to succeed in out via the Lancet Citizens’ Commission web site. A closing report could also be anticipated in two years.