Chennai: India’s efforts to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) will now be catalysed by the voices of its citizens and prominent stakeholders from across diverse sectors of India’s health system with the launch of The Lancet Citizens’ Commission – ‘Reimagining India’s Health System’.
The work of the Commission began on Friday, with an aim to publish a final report of its findings and recommendations in the next two years, a press release here said.
Formulated in association with the world leading international medical journal, The Lancet and The Lakshmi Mittal And Family South Asia Institute, Harvard University, the Commission’s primary mission will be to lay out the path to guarantee universal access to quality and affordable health care services to every Indian.
The Commission will be led by four distinguished health and business leaders (co-chairs, mentioned alongside), who have brought together 13 experts from academia, the scientific community, civil society, and private healthcare to serve with them on the Commission.
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, executive chairperson, Biocon said, “This is a first of its kind consultative and participatory initiative that aims to chart socio-economic parity through universal health equity. It seeks to engage citizens from across the country and put them at the heart of the efforts to transform India’s health system and make universal health care a reality. Our intent is to include Indians from all socio-economic strata in this crucial discussion so that their experiences and views can be integrated in the recommendations, thus ensuring a credible and comprehensive report at the end of the process”.
Highlighting what sets this Commission apart from previous efforts, Gagandeep Kang, professor, Christian Medical College, Vellore, said, “To realise a resilient health system where access to healthcare is not a luxury and where the marginalised remain elusive, all stakeholders including the citizenry need to work along with the government and deliberate on solutions for effective implementation of the universal health coverage”.
