A wake-up call for a healthier India

The Lancet editor Richard Horton,in the country to launch the journals India Series,highlights shortcomings in Indias health coverage and calls for a universal system to fix them.

A series of papers on Indias path to universal health coverage,published in The Lancet,warns that a failing health system is perhaps Indias greatest predicament.

Yet,The Lancet editor Richard Horton told The Indian Express,three innovations in India deserve applause the National Rural Health Mission,Janani Suraksha Yojana and Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana are examples of innovation the world is looking at.

The series was launched by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Delhi. It brings together evidence to show that Indian health is in crisis. Put simply,Horton said,too many politicians in India do not take the health of those they claim to represent seriously enough. It concludes with a call to action for universal health care in India,for increased public spending on health,the creation of an Indian national health service,better health information,stronger regulation of the private sector,and the improvement of preventive and curative health services.

India has one-fifth of the worlds population. She has emerged as a powerful global force. If India could get the health of her people right then the world could learn a great deal from the country. Hence we decided to allow Indian doctors to tell the story of India themselves.

At the same time,Horton praised the Janani Suraksha Yojana as a conditional cash transfer mechanism to encourage women to give birth in a health facility,the National Rural Health Mission for aiming at higher public spending on health and decentralisation of healthcare delivery in rural areas,and the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna for hospitalisation of those living below the poverty line. He felt these innovations are,however,overlaid on a system of investments in health that are deeply irrational,inimical to the needs of most Indians,and adversely influenced by the fashions of international health organisations.

He said,I strongly feel that India has a reputation in the Western world as a centre of economic growth. It is an economic miracle. However the problem with this perception is that she forgets her people. What is the point of economic growth if the citizens cannot enjoy a high standard of health?

India Series editors Vikram Patel,Srinath Reddy,Shiva Kumar and Vinod Paul say in a comment: We are aware that the goals we set out are ambitious and the challenges huge,but we believe that 21st-century India can channel political commitment and resources to help realise the nations founding vision of health for all. The time to act has come.

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Patel said over 30 experts from various areas and an advisory group of 15 worked on the series for three years.