Skip to content
Research Article Open access CC BY 4.0

Universal Health Coverage- A Case Study of Indian Healthcare System during COVID-19 Pandemic

Rashika Nandwani

Asian Journal of Medicine and Health · pp. 1–6 · Published 2 Mar 2021

10.9734/ajmah/2021/v19i130291

Abstract

Aim: The main purpose of this paper is to look at the Indian healthcare system during the COVID-19 pandemic and how COVID-19 acts as barrier and also presents some opportunities towards the road of Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Background: COVID-19 has exposed the vulnerability of health systems across the world and India is no exception. The World Health Organization (WHO) has kept the definition of UHC very flexible and has left on the country which is implementing it as to how much of the population and which services should be included in the scheme.  Discussion: India already has a unique flagship program Ayushman Bharat where it is trying to cover her most vulnerable population against catastrophic expenditure of health. This paper further investigates the progress of India towards UHC and how COVID-19 is acting as an impediment for India to progress towards it. On the other hand, it also poses some opportunities which had not been explored in the past. Health Systems Strengthening is the path towards the achievement of UHC and due to COVID-19, India has touched upon all the six building blocks which are needed to strengthen our system towards the achievement of UHC. Recommendations and Conclusion: It recommends that Indian system should be more proactive than reactive; it also suggests following a systems-based approach and to not target the problem in silos. It also suggests increasing the government funding as well as establishment of proper public health cadre. To conclude, this paper also suggests that the government should include outpatient expenses into their scheme, and they should also concentrate towards building adequate infrastructure in order to face future pandemics like COVID-19.

COVID-19 Universal health coverage Indian healthcare system

References (8)

  1. 1 Burnout among Healthcare Workers during COVID-19 Pandemic in India: Results of a Questionnaire-based Survey [DOI]
  2. 2 Indian Journal of Critical Care Medicine [DOI]
  3. 3 Using Telemedicine During the COVID-19 Pandemic [DOI]
  4. 4 Gaps in India's preparedness for COVID-19 control [DOI]
  5. 5 COVID-19 pandemic in India: challenges and silver linings [DOI]
  6. 6 Inter-state transmission potential and vulnerability of COVID-19 in India [DOI]
  7. 7 Ayushman bharat and road to universal health coverage in India [DOI]
  8. 8 Universal Health Coverage [DOI]

Cited by 2

America’s Healthcare System: A Looming Crises

Prince Akpokiro · Asian Journal of Research in Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences · 2024

Showing 1 of 2 known citations — external sources report more than can currently be individually listed.

Related research

Article metrics

Real usage data collected on this platform.

56

Page views

0

PDF downloads

18

Outbound clicks

2

Citations

Views over time

Views by country

Approximate, from request IP at view time — not citizenship or institution. Countries with fewer than 5 views are grouped as "Other".

Traffic sources

Referring site, by host.

Views and downloads exclude known bots/crawlers. Citations combines this platform's own DOI-resolved index with each external source's own reported total — see Cited by above for individually listed citing works. Last refreshed 0 seconds ago.