Writing out a prescription for health care reforms
13 years, 4 months ago

Writing out a prescription for health care reforms

The Hindu  

Health is a state of mental, social and physical well-being and not merely an absence of disease or infirmity. Recently, the health sector has been in the news — from the creation of a rural based graduate medical education programme, the introduction of a common medical entrance exam, the recommendation by the Indian Council of Medical Research to include cancer under notifiable diseases, and the death of infants and children from infectious diseases. The NKC is for training existing health care professionals and workers as multipurpose workers who will have a thorough knowledge of the management of basic health care medical practices and imparting health education. On the other hand, it is easy access to health care, availability of medicines, provision of clean water, sanitation facilities, a vaccination programme similar to what is there in developed nations, a uniform protocol-driven patient management system in certain areas such as obstetric emergencies and medical conditions such as heart attack, and strokes, and first aid to accident victims which will result in an improvement of health care. Avoiding overlapping of medical colleges, the creation of more paramedical courses with an effective public-private partnership model and, most importantly, the provision of urban amenities in rural areas will pave the way for uniform distribution of doctors and equitable health care.

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History of this topic

A status check of universal health coverage in India
2 weeks, 1 day ago

A status check of universal health coverage in India

The Hindu  

A little over six years ago, what has been proclaimed as the world’s largest health assurance scheme, namely, the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, was rolled out in the face of hitherto scarce evidence of publicly funded health insurance affording significant levels of financial risk protection, particularly to the marginalised. Frequently, inpatient care insurance is linked to …

The challenges of public health education in India
2 weeks, 2 days ago

The challenges of public health education in India

The Hindu  

The decision by the United States to withdraw from the World Health Organization and drastically reduce the scale of the United States Agency for International Development is one that has sent shock waves through the aid and public health world. The evolution of training and jobs in India Though the surge in public health education in India is relatively recent, …

CM Mohan Charan Majhi highlights need for development of healthcare in backward regions
1 month, 3 weeks ago

CM Mohan Charan Majhi highlights need for development of healthcare in backward regions

New Indian Express  

KEONJHAR: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Sunday said a concerted effort is needed for development of healthcare in the backward regions of Odisha. Speaking at the closing ceremony of the 74th annual conference of Indian Medical Association, Odisha branch, the chief minister said health has been given considerable importance in the state budget. Majhi further said of the Rs …

A green signal for India to assert its health leadership
1 month, 3 weeks ago

A green signal for India to assert its health leadership

The Hindu  

The Union Budget 2025-26 lays a robust foundation for India to assert its leadership in global health care and innovation, with strategic announcements that bolster medical infrastructure, expand educational opportunities, and promote global collaboration. With a ₹90,958 crore health-care allocation, the addition of 75,000 medical seats over the next five years, and investments in daycare cancer centres, India is poised …

Making health system push economic growth: a case of missed opportunity
1 month, 4 weeks ago

Making health system push economic growth: a case of missed opportunity

The Hindu  

To make our economy grow, we need to push private consumption. The key department within the Health ministry, the Department of Health and Family Welfare, which runs most of the critical public health programmes, saw a meagre 11% increase in its annual Budget Estimates from last fiscal year’s Revised Estimates. Within health, the focus remains on the national level insurance …

Budget 2025: A push for healthcare excellence
2 months ago

Budget 2025: A push for healthcare excellence

New Indian Express  

The Union Budget 2025-26 reflects a decisive step towards strengthening India’s healthcare and economic landscape. Investing in skill development to bridge gaps Ensuring healthcare accessibility requires a skilled workforce, and the budget has proposed 75,000 new medical seats over next five years. Viksit Bharat: A future of growth & opportunity Beyond healthcare, the budget paves the way for a more …

National Rural Health Mission: Manmohan Singh’s quiet revolution in healthcare
2 months, 3 weeks ago

National Rural Health Mission: Manmohan Singh’s quiet revolution in healthcare

The Hindu  

Manmohan Singh’s legacy as an economist often overshadows his tenure as a Prime Minister. However, no other Prime Minister in India’s history has been responsible for saving as many lives as Manmohan Singh, thanks to his landmark decision to launch the National Rural Health Mission in 2005. By 2014, when Singh’s tenure ended, maternal mortality had dropped to 167 per …

A vision for healthcare in India
2 months, 4 weeks ago

A vision for healthcare in India

The Hindu  

Health development is an integral part of social development. Universal health coverage is a vital consideration in an impoverished country such as India and expanding the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana to include a broader population base is without doubt a crucial initiative. Given that it’s the digital era, implementing the National Digital Health Mission to create digital health …

A decade of transformation: India's journey towards healthcare equity and excellence
3 months ago

A decade of transformation: India's journey towards healthcare equity and excellence

India Today  

The journey of healthcare transformation is not merely about policy shifts or technological integration; it is about reimagining the role of healthcare as a cornerstone of national development. For global leaders, policymakers, and healthcare executives, India’s transformative journey offers a compelling roadmap for addressing systemic challenges while leveraging innovation for scalable, equitable impact. Lessons for global leaders India’s healthcare transformation …

India’s Public Health Crisis: The Price of Privatisation
3 months, 1 week ago

India’s Public Health Crisis: The Price of Privatisation

The Hindu  

Published : Dec 25, 2024 12:00 IST - 9 MINS READ As a nation and as a population, India shares with its South and South-East Asian neighbours the legacy of a heavy public health burden shaped by a common historical past. A recent NITI Aayog report reveals that the average monthly per capita health expenditure remains at about 13 per …

India’s cities, their non-communicable disease burden
4 months ago

India’s cities, their non-communicable disease burden

The Hindu  

The recent case where a Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation bus driver passed away after cardiac arrest while on duty, has set off discussions on rising poor health outcomes in our cities. The health burden in urban India Poor urban communities face a triple health burden: hazardous work environments, limited health-care access, and financial vulnerability during health crises, that are exacerbated …

Healthcare saw major reforms in past 10 years: HDK
4 months, 2 weeks ago

Healthcare saw major reforms in past 10 years: HDK

New Indian Express  

BENGALURU: Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel HD Kumaraswamy said a major revolution has taken place to build a healthy India in the last ten years under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Delivering the convocation address at the graduation ceremony of the 14th batch of Rajarajeswari Medical College here on Tuesday, he said, “In the past decade, …

PM Modi Launches Health Cover Plan for Senior Citizens, Hits Out at Delhi and West Bengal Governments
5 months ago

PM Modi Launches Health Cover Plan for Senior Citizens, Hits Out at Delhi and West Bengal Governments

Hindustan Times  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched a health cover plan for citizens aged 70 and above under the government's flagship Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY). The scheme will provide health coverage to all eligible senior citizens regardless of their income. Modi highlighted that the scheme was a blessing for every person associated with it, be it a …

Can CM Atishi solve crisis in health, education departments in Delhi?
6 months, 1 week ago

Can CM Atishi solve crisis in health, education departments in Delhi?

New Indian Express  

NEW DELHI: The elevation of Atishi as Chief Minister has stirred some excitement among healthcare professionals. But for frontline workers, it is “business as usual.” “During Kejriwal’s tenure, there was minimal improvement in specialised medical care, despite Delhi being a hub for patients nationwide. The government frequently touts a world-class health model, but true excellence requires consistency across all levels …

Health care using AI is bold, but much caution first
6 months, 2 weeks ago

Health care using AI is bold, but much caution first

The Hindu  

News about the possibility of a “free AI powered primary-care physician for every Indian, available 24/7” within the next five years is ambitious. This illustrates the inherent paradox in AI development in health care — the need for extensive data collection to improve accuracy is at odds with privacy and ethical concerns. AI’s utility in health care AI can play …

Evolution of the health care policy framework in India
6 months, 4 weeks ago

Evolution of the health care policy framework in India

Hindustan Times  

This paper traces the history of the evolution of India’s health care policy framework, focusing on its major objectives, challenges faced, and outcomes emerged. The key themes prevalent across most of these policies and specific initiatives included: increasing public health spending and reducing out-of-pocket or catastrophic health spending; addressing rural-urban inequalities in healthcare; developing primary health care; and achieving universal …

Health care: Innovations for an inclusive future
7 months ago

Health care: Innovations for an inclusive future

Hindustan Times  

India's health care sector is experiencing unprecedented growth, driven not just by rising incomes, but also through a confluence of transformative factors. By fostering supportive government policies, India has the potential not only to improve health care for its citizens but also to set a global benchmark for affordable, high-quality care. Four areas need urgent attention: * Policy and regulatory …

The burden of health care on India’s poorest
7 months, 3 weeks ago

The burden of health care on India’s poorest

Hindustan Times  

In recent years, the Indian government has made significant strides in reducing the burden of health expenditure on the common citizen. A particular focus of the government has been to reduce the burden of severe economic shocks due to “catastrophic” health care expenditure such as hospitalisation. In order to understand the character of catastrophic health expenditure, Artha Global’s Centre for …

Letters to The Editor — June 11, 2024
9 months, 3 weeks ago

Letters to The Editor — June 11, 2024

The Hindu  

Alternative medicine The recent article by Dr. K. Madan Gopal, “The delicate balancing of health-care costs”, on the need for balancing health-care costs, puts forth much needed insights into the matter. India enjoys medical pluralism and the role of alternative health care too needs to be deliberated upon in this context, especially in the preventive aspect. Intervention through alternative medical …

Urban health: Slipping through the cracks
10 months ago

Urban health: Slipping through the cracks

Hindustan Times  

A large volume of evidence sharply highlights the rural-urban divide in health outcomes in India, along with the differences in availability, accessibility, and affordability of health care services between rural and urban areas. Health The paper finds that India is far from reaching the goal of effective self-governance of local bodies in urban areas, and one casualty of this gap …

Public-private partnership: Pathway to health for all
10 months, 1 week ago

Public-private partnership: Pathway to health for all

Hindustan Times  

The goal of universal health coverage is one of the most significant commitments to equitable quality health care for all. Health care A true partnership, where the professionalism, patience and perseverance of private sector can positively impact the health of the Indian population across a new private-public partnership nomenclature--the poor, paediatric and pregnant women alike. · Technology and innovation towards …

Healthcare privatisation linked with worse outcomes, higher profits: Lancet Study
10 months, 2 weeks ago

Healthcare privatisation linked with worse outcomes, higher profits: Lancet Study

Deccan Chronicle  

New Delhi: Privatisation of healthcare was found to almost never have a positive effect on the quality of care, and was associated with higher profits, a research that reviewed previous studies of high-income countries such as the US, Germany, Canada, and South Korea has claimed.Researchers said the findings, published in The Lancet Public Health journal, challenged the theory that privatisation …

Have India’s health centres really ‘collapsed’?
1 year ago

Have India’s health centres really ‘collapsed’?

The Hindu  

Jean Drèze, Reetika Khera, Rishabh Malhotra, ‘The Changing State of Health Centres in North India’, Economic & Political Weekly There is a well-documented infamy around public health centres. Localised healthcare “is a much better way of dealing with most health problems than to let patients loose on larger public hospitals or the private sector”. “Health centres today have better facilities, …

Is your vote for health?
1 year, 1 month ago

Is your vote for health?

The Hindu  

There are no two ways about this thing, election fever is in the air and with advancing summer, the earth has begun to sizzle not just with the heat, but also early election preparedness. The NDA ensured continuity of policy by scrapping the Medical Council of India and establishing the National Medical Commission, further strengthened the rural health infrastructure with …

Electoral season and restructuring the health system
1 year, 1 month ago

Electoral season and restructuring the health system

The Hindu  

With the electoral season on, it is going to be raining manifestos. Both mentioned revamping the primary health system, ensuring universal health care, expanding human resources, increasing use of technology and so on. The NDA ensured continuity of policy by scrapping the Medical Council of India and establishing the National Medical Commission, further strengthened the rural health infrastructure with capital …

Compassionate leadership enables equitable health care access
1 year, 7 months ago

Compassionate leadership enables equitable health care access

Hindustan Times  

As we mark the anniversary of our nation's 77th Independence, it is truly a moment of pride for us. The implementation of the Cognitive Based Compassion Training has already left a significant imprint on 1,200 health care providers across 20 districts in Bihar, fostering the cultivation of compassionate leadership within the public healthcare framework. Elevating Primary Health Centres through enhanced …

Health Matters | Here, for the healthcare highs and lows
1 year, 8 months ago

Health Matters | Here, for the healthcare highs and lows

The Hindu  

If we are lucky, it is a mixed bag at the health desk. Assaulted by stories of resurgence of diseases, or emergence of newer pathogen, and buffeted by questions of access to quality health care, we are irrevocably revived by some good news, some development, a reduction in the number of cases, a government scheme that will go an extra …

Country's Health Service Undergoing Rapid Transformation: PM Modi
1 year, 10 months ago

Country's Health Service Undergoing Rapid Transformation: PM Modi

News 18  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the country’s health service is undergoing a “rapid transformation”, asserting that in the last nine years, the poor have realized that medical facilities are easily accessible to them. The PM said that the Ayushman Bharat scheme has played an important role in it and opened the door to not only government hospitals but …

Investing in right education, sanitation helps improve health too: Doctors
2 years, 2 months ago

Investing in right education, sanitation helps improve health too: Doctors

Deccan Chronicle  

HYDERABAD: Year after year, Budget after Budget, successive governments in the country have spoken about healthcare and promised to invest in basic infrastructure but the country has to go a long way to be called a developed nation. Stressing on the importance of efficiently using the spending, Amor Hospital AD, Dr. Kishore B. Reddy said "Every year we hear Governments …

Alleviating the scourge of private healthcare
2 years, 3 months ago

Alleviating the scourge of private healthcare

The Hindu  

India ranks poorly on multiple health financing indicators. Public health insurance schemes have often been reproached for imposing unreasonable package rates on empanelled private providers with a weak regard for actual costs of care. For instance, some countries like Canada have conceived regional health boards that organise care equitably within regions, exploit economies of scale, and bring down healthcare costs. …

SC directs Centre, states to file responses on plea for uniform healthcare standard
2 years, 4 months ago

SC directs Centre, states to file responses on plea for uniform healthcare standard

Deccan Chronicle  

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday directed the Centre and the states to file their responses on a plea seeking directions for a uniform standard of healthcare for citizens in line with the Constitution by adopting provisions of the Clinical Establishments Act, 2010. The top court was hearing a plea filed by Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, Patients' Rights Campaign and K …

India’s journey towards improving health for all
2 years, 4 months ago

India’s journey towards improving health for all

Hindustan Times  

In the past few decades, research, science, innovation, policy initiatives and collaborations across public, private and social sectors around the globe have led to considerable progress in prolonging and improving life. The India Hypertension Control Initiative was awarded the 2022 UN Interagency Task Force and the WHO Special Programme on Primary Health Care Award recently. India’s pharmaceutical industry has played …

Charting the course for accessible health care in cities
2 years, 6 months ago

Charting the course for accessible health care in cities

Hindustan Times  

The pace of urbanisation in India has increased drastically in the past two decades, and the world’s fifth-largest economy is projected by the United Nations to have 675 million of its people, about 43%, living in cities by 2035, up from 35% in 2021. The 15th Finance Commission report highlights how the Covid-19 pandemic stretched government health facilities in India, …

Holistic health care been a priority for the past eight years: PM Modi in Mohali
2 years, 7 months ago

Holistic health care been a priority for the past eight years: PM Modi in Mohali

Firstpost  

The 300-bed hospital has been built in Mohali’s Mullanpur at a cost of over Rs 660 crore by Tata Memorial Centre, an aided institute under the Union Department of Atomic Energy Mohali: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said holistic health care has been a priority in the country for the past eight years and more work has been done …

Why Most Indians not Using Public Health Facilities is a Matter of Concern
2 years, 8 months ago

Why Most Indians not Using Public Health Facilities is a Matter of Concern

News 18  

Around 70 years ago, when India established its First Primary Health Centre, on the recommendation of the Bhore Committee, the idea was Indians will soon have access to equitable, affordable and quality health care services that are accountable and responsive to their needs. According to the Fifth Round of National Family Health Survey, 2019-21, half of the families in India …

Heal the nation before healing the rest of the world
2 years, 9 months ago

Heal the nation before healing the rest of the world

The Hindu  

Bolstering health human resources has been a prime focus of many of the Union government’s recent initiatives and policy pronouncements. The Union health Budget 2022 made handsome appropriations for the same, much in line with the Fifteenth Finance Commission’s recommendations which laid a conspicuous emphasis on utilising existing capacities at the district and sub-district levels to train different cadres of …

The political pathway to health system improvements in India
3 years, 3 months ago

The political pathway to health system improvements in India

Hindustan Times  

The Indian health care sector has made significant progress in the last few decades. In this paper, the authors analyse the political determinants of improved health outcomes, making a case for political attention to healthcare, through increased investments, health care reforms and improved capacity to deliver curative and public health. The shortcomings of low public investment in health, a fragmented …

Citizen’s engagement is the backbone of Universal Health Coverage
3 years, 4 months ago

Citizen’s engagement is the backbone of Universal Health Coverage

Hindustan Times  

Covid-19 is a grim reminder of the fact that a robust health system is a necessity, not an option. The key components of the communitisation strategy under the NHM, include selection and training of a female community health activists--Accredited Social Health Activist to work as an interface between the community and public health system; constitution and strengthening of Village Health …

Care for health: Perspective on Indian healthcare sector in 2021 and beyond
3 years, 5 months ago

Care for health: Perspective on Indian healthcare sector in 2021 and beyond

Times of India  

Today, there is a clearly identifiable change in the way healthcare services are being delivered and perceived in India. Despite the impact of the second wave – and as the country has crossed the one billion plus vaccine doses landmark – there have been some highly encouraging takeaways from the healthcare operations in 2021. It is not only the massive …

Making India self-reliant in health care
3 years, 5 months ago

Making India self-reliant in health care

Hindustan Times  

The coronavirus pandemic presented to us a set of complex challenges, demanding a prompt response to the evolving situation in a manner that also facilitated rapid scaling up of the public health infrastructure, with an approach calibrated to the varying maturity of health systems across India. It also aims to provide health infrastructure, surveillance and research to make the country …

‘More Money for Health’: Financing Universal Health Coverage in India
3 years, 7 months ago

‘More Money for Health’: Financing Universal Health Coverage in India

Hindustan Times  

Any discussion of the pathways that India needs to take towards Universal Healthcare would be incomplete without a clear understanding of how it is to be financed. However, perhaps the most important challenge that we face in our UHC journey is that while the proportions being allocated to healthcare by each state government from its annual budget vary greatly and …

Healthcare for all must be built on the voices of all
3 years, 7 months ago

Healthcare for all must be built on the voices of all

Hindustan Times  

The state of health care in India is far from optimal, a statement with which few of its 1.3 billion citizens would disagree. These underlying tensions are what motivated the formation of the Lancet Citizens’ Commission on Reimagining India’s Health System. For India to achieve universal health coverage in the next decade, it is imperative to understand and negotiate the …

Urgent Need for Major Reforms in WHO in Wake of Pandemic: Health Minister Harsh Vardhan
3 years, 9 months ago

Urgent Need for Major Reforms in WHO in Wake of Pandemic: Health Minister Harsh Vardhan

News 18  

India believes there is an urgent need for carrying out “major reforms” in the World Health Organization to ensure a timely, focused and effective response to potential future pandemics, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Wednesday. Speaking at a meeting of the health ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation countries through video-conference, he said the global crisis arising out …

The rural healthcare challenge
3 years, 9 months ago

The rural healthcare challenge

Hindustan Times  

Covid-19 made inroads into rural and peri-urban areas during the second wave, with rural districts accounting for 53% of new cases and 52% of Covid-19 deaths in May, according to a recent report. In contrast to urban areas, preventive care services, including maternal and child health services, family planning, and immunisation, have dominated rural health allocations, and curative care has …

Govt working on four fronts to keep India healthy: PM Modi
4 years, 1 month ago

Govt working on four fronts to keep India healthy: PM Modi

India TV News  

Govt working on four fronts to keep India healthy: PM Modi Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said his government is taking a holistic approach to healthcare in the country and is not just focused on treatment but also wellness. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said his government is taking a holistic approach to healthcare in the country and …

Stopping the slide of health care in India
4 years, 3 months ago

Stopping the slide of health care in India

The Hindu  

India’s health care is a dark echo chamber. What makes insurance and private health care an egregious combination is that the insurance backup incentivises hospitals to expand the bill but the patients do not get attended to in their best interests. In any case, insurance of secondary and tertiary care pushes out long-term investment by the state and people and …

Reimagining India’s Health System: The Lancet Citizens’ Commission
4 years, 3 months ago

Reimagining India’s Health System: The Lancet Citizens’ Commission

The Quint  

The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the gaps in the Indian healthcare system and necessitated the need to reevaluate the work that needs to be done to improve access to affordable, accessible and inclusive care for all. Vikram Patel, Professor, Harvard Medical School and Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and co-founder of the Indian NGO Sangath, added, “The …

Mind the gaps in India’s health care digital push
4 years, 6 months ago

Mind the gaps in India’s health care digital push

The Hindu  

The Independence Day address of the Prime Minister launching the National Digital Health Mission during an unprecedented novel coronavirus pandemic crisis, caught everyone’s attention. ‘Going Digital’ has no doubt been a magic phrase that has often been repeated in multiple contexts in the country, and as yet another ‘Mission’ for the health sector, they waited Some progress There is no …

Reversing health sector neglect with a reform agenda
4 years, 7 months ago

Reversing health sector neglect with a reform agenda

The Hindu  

Two countries which lead in the COVID-19 cases tally in the world today, namely the United States and India, are also the ones where the need for health-care reform post COVID-19 has been most keenly felt. However, the foundational aspects of U.S. health care, such as a fragmented private insurance landscape and a love for expensive specialised care, could hardly …

World Population Day 2020: India need to focus on quality health care for all in the post-COVID-19 era
4 years, 8 months ago

World Population Day 2020: India need to focus on quality health care for all in the post-COVID-19 era

Firstpost  

With the private health sector failing to provide equitable healthcare, we should consider regulations to ensure it acts in the people’s interests and not in the quest for profits. As we highlight the population issues on World Population Day, it is also important to put India’s healthcare system under the scanner and address the barriers to delivering quality healthcare services …

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