India needs to reorganise its healthcare system: WHO

Kolkata: India should reorganise its healthcare delivery system with the right mix and distribution of services to achieve Universal Health Coverage, a top WHO official has said.

Besides reducing out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditure incurred by people, government should also increase public expenditure on health and develop mechanisms for cashless access to health services at all delivery points', the official stressed.

"There are a few steps which can be taken by the Indian government to achieve UHC. Primarily it must reorganise the health service delivery with a right mix and distribution of preventive, promotive, curative, diagnostic and rehabilitative services to tackle comorbidities with higher access and availability of quality health services, developing effective referral linkage and ensuring continuity of care, from primary to tertiary care facilities," WHO representative to India Dr Nata Menabde told PTI.

"Additionally, there is a need for strengthened regulatory mechanism to oversee quality of health service provision, in both public and private sector," she said, adding governments must adopt new laws and regulations to implement health system reforms required for UHC.

Strengthening of human resources for health both in quantitative terms as well as performance and facilitating increased participation of communities through institutional and management reforms for ensuring accountability, transparency and responsiveness of the health system to the citizens would also be required, she stressed.

"There is need to engage private health sector in a policy dialogue around UHC planning, as well as delivery of services under the Universal Health Assurance (UHA) mission through defined mechanisms, to progress towards UHC in India," Menabde said.

Praising the role of the newly-elected government at the Centre on providing UHA, which includes the core components of UHC, she said, "Currently available information indicates that the proposed National Health Assurance Mission (NHAM) will include all key components to accelerate the progress towards UHC. Simultaneously, India is drafting a National Health Policy focusing upon key aspects of UHC.

"There is a growing attention on looking at suitable models for financing of health services in India, along with development of next national health accounts for the country. These are the right planning steps for moving towards UHC in India," she said.