Dear Friends,
We are delighted to present to you the first edition of the monthly newsletter by the Lancet Citizens' Commission on Reimagining India’s Health System. This newsletter offers a glimpse into the variety, scale, and rigour of work that we do at the Commission. You will find it in your inbox every month.
There is an urgent need for a resilient healthcare system that offers comprehensive, accountable, accessible, inclusive, and affordable quality healthcare to all citizens in India.
The Lancet Citizens’ Commission on Reimagining India’s Health System is an ambitious, cross-sectoral endeavor to lay out the roadmap to achieving universal health coverage (UHC) for the people of India.
A guiding principle for this Commission is that structural change towards UHC can only be attained through consultative and participatory engagement with the diverse sectors involved in healthcare and, most importantly, with India’s citizenry. The Lancet Commission has brought together leaders from academia, the scientific community, civil society, and private healthcare to spearhead this effort. The announcement comment in the Lancet can be found here.
The Commission aims to publish its report in 2022, in the 75th year of India’s independence. The Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute, Harvard University, India office is serving as the secretariat.
Since December 2020, the Commission members have been closely tracking and studying the Indian healthcare system, including the challenges the pandemic has brought to the forefront, to respond to the particular healthcare challenges we now confront. In this newsletter, we bring you an analysis on how India can commit to building national health coverage and the pathways to reimagine commercial health insurance in India. In addition, we bring you a breakdown by the Commission community on the implications of these developments for India and what our response should look like.
As a Citizens’ Commission, we invite the public to participate, provide input and continue to engage with this new initiative.
Co-Chairs, The Lancet Citizens' Commission on Reimagining India’s Health System
Gagandeep Kang, Clinician Scientist and Professor in the Department of Gastrointestinal Sciences, Christian Medical College
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Executive Chairperson, Biocon Ltd.
Tarun Khanna, Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor, Harvard Business School; Faculty Director, The Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute, Harvard University
Vikram Patel, The Pershing Square Professor of Global Health, Harvard Medical School; Professor, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health; Co-founder, Sangath