-Live Mint The deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, in an interview, spoke about the challenges of pushing public health reforms India is likely to finalize a draft Plan document next week to introduce universal health coverage in India. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, spoke in an interview about the challenges of pushing public health reforms with limited resources at hand.  Edited excerpts: * Will the government be able to...

-The Hindu India ranks among the lowest in the world in public spending on health, but the private spending is one of the highest. The National Sample Survey Organisation’s report (2006) shows over 35 per cent of people who are hospitalised fall below the poverty line because of the expenses that follow, and over 40 per cent have to borrow or sell assets to pay for their care. Private sector provision...

-The Hindu Brazil, Mexico and Thailand have done it. Many countries with a sound understanding of development look at Universal Health Coverage as a vital requirement to achieve it. India is at a crossroads. Introducing UHC in the 12th Plan can transform the lives of Indians, create new jobs and galvanise the economy. Most people would agree that one’s income or caste or gender should not bar one’s ability to get decent...

-The Hindu A 2012 WHO study ranks India third — behind Myanmar and Bangladesh — among countries that fail to provide health cover to people. A 2011 study reported in The Lancet on ‘Healthcare and equity’ confirms this: every year, at least 39 million people here fall into poverty due to private out-of-pocket health expenditure. A vast majority of Indians do not have access to healthcare or essential drugs. By the...

-Frontline Health activists say the health chapter of the Twelfth Plan document exaggerates the role of the private sector in providing health care. The draft chapter on health for the Twelfth Five Year Plan document not only is grossly inadequate in its approach but exaggerates to unrealistic levels the role of the private sector in providing health care. It invokes the concept of universal health care (UHC), but, critics say, it...