Make Health in India: Reaching a Billion Plus

Contents: Preface. 1. What makes a healthy society? 2. How healthy is India? 3. Health system challenges. 4. Access to medicines. 5. First steps to universal health coverage: firm, but not full or fast. 6. The high level expert group: providing a framework for universal health coverage. 7. National health policy 2017. 8. Ayushman Bharat. 9. The way forward. A strong public health system is a necessary prerequisite if a country is to consider itself developed . As India strives to attain the status of a global superpower, it is important to look at what the state is doing to secure the health of its people. Make Health in India, the first volume in the Policy Studies series, traces the evolution of India s health system in recent decades, with particular attention to the journey towards Universal Health Coverage. The book highlights the marked regional and social inequalities in key health indicators such as infant and maternal mortality, while describing the transition to new public health challenges. The author studies the challenges arising from a weak health system and adverse socio-economic determinants of health. The book critically analyses the various policy initiatives undertaken over the last 15 years to improve access and affordability of health services with particular attention to the National Health Policy of 2017 and Ayushman Bharat unveiled in 2018. The author also proposes a list of actions that can create a coherent framework for promoting and protecting the health of all Indians.