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Editorial
. 2021 Dec;10(12):4337-4340.
doi: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_2032_21. Epub 2021 Dec 27.

Healthcare in post-COVID India: A call for a decentralized healthcare system

C S Pramesh  1 , D V R Seshadri  2 , Evita Fernandez  3 , Gullapalli N Rao  4 , Manisha Dutta  5 , Pavitra Mohan  6 ; Equitable Healthcare Access Consortium
Affiliations
Editorial

Healthcare in post-COVID India: A call for a decentralized healthcare system

C S Pramesh et al. J Family Med Prim Care. 2021 Dec.

Abstract

Over the years, healthcare system in India has been largely centralized, expensive and impersonal. In a country where expenditure on healthcare is low, most healthcare expenditure is out-of-pocket and where most of the population continue to live in rural areas or in urban fringes, such a care is inaccessible, unresponsive and unaffordable. COVID pandemic exposed these realities further. Based on experiences of directly managing health services during COVID-19 pandemic in different settings and across different levels, authors of this paper argue for a decentralized, distributed and responsive health systems for India, that is likely to be more effective and sustainable in normal times, and in times of crisis.

Keywords: Covid-19; delivery of healthcare; integrated.

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Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Patients provided out-patient consultations across levels of care at LVPEI (Apr-Sep’20)
Figure 2
Figure 2
Patients provided out-patient consultations across levels of care at LVPEI (Apr-Sep’19)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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