A group of experts from the Lancet in India on Wednesday proposed a centralized system for the procurement and distribution of free Covid vaccines, part of an eight-point system of recommendations to “curb the loss of life caused by the coronavirus resurgence in the country and suffering ”is.
The Lancet Citizens’ Commission to Reshape India’s Health System, made up of 21 experts including virologist Gagandeep Kang and Narayana Hrudalaya chairman Devi Shetty, was launched last December.
In an article published in the UK Medical Journal, the commission made eight urgent recommendations for the center and state governments. This includes a transparent pricing policy and money transfers from the state to workers in the informal sector.
One of the most important points is the establishment of central systems for the free procurement and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, a departure from the current policy of decentralized procurement by the state governments.
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“Such an approach would optimize prices and minimize the interstate inequalities that could result from different fiscal and capacity contexts,” the 21 authors wrote in the article.
“These recommendations focus on the immediate steps central and state governments need to take to curb the loss of life and suffering caused by Covid-19 in light of the recent surge in cases,” the commission said.
The commission also recommended that district-level working groups should have the autonomy to respond to rapidly changing local situations and should be empowered to have the means and resources to coordinate efforts across all areas of the health system, from frontline workers to tertiary care .
Other recommendations include transparent national pricing policies and caps for all essential health services, widespread dissemination of evidence-based information on the management of COVID-19, and the pooling of all available human resources in different sectors of the health system, including the private sector, for an effective response to the disease.
In addition, the panel proposed active collaboration between government and civil society organizations to create and disseminate accurate information, enable home care, emphasize prevention, manage access to life-saving treatment, and promote vaccination.
Another recommendation is to be transparent about the collection and modeling of government data so that the districts can proactively prepare for likely case numbers in the coming weeks.
Finally, the commission recommended “minimizing the profound suffering and health risks of livelihood loss by arranging for state cash transfers to be made to workers in India’s vast informal economy who have lost their jobs”.
“There is still time to curb the bleeding of life and suffering from COVID-19 in India,” the authors wrote.
“We call on the central and state governments to act urgently and in solidarity with one another and across sectors to address one of the largest humanitarian crises the country has faced since independence,” they added.
The commission was set up to outline the path to achieving Universal Health Insurance (UHC) in India over the next decade through a participatory, solution-oriented approach.
In addition to Kang, professor at Christian Medical College (CMC) in Vellore, and Shetty, Vikram Patel, professor at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, CEO and founder of Biocon Limited, and Yamini Aiyar, Managing Director of the Center for Policy Research in New Delhi.
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