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Controversial editorial in Lancet, criticising Modi governments health policy
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India’s elections: why data and transparency matter
Later this month, Indians will head to the polls in what will be the largest election in history. 970 million people, more than 10% of the world population, will
vote in the 2024 Lok Sabha (House of the People)parliamentary elections between April 19 and June 4.
Opinion polls suggest that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, leader of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata
Party, and his coalition will win a third successive 5-year term. Under Modi’s leadership, India has seen
a remarkable, albeit unequal, economic boom. The economy is worth US$3·7 trillion and is expected to
overtake Japan and Germany to become the third-largest economy in the world in the next 3 years.
However, when it comes to health, there is quite a different story to tell of the Modi Government.
Health care under Modi has fared poorly, as described in this week’s World Report. Overall, government
spending on health has fallen and now hovers around an abysmal 1·2% of gross domestic product, out-of-pocket
expenditure on health care remains extremely high, and flagship initiatives on primary health care and universal
health coverage have so far failed to deliver services to
people most in need. Persistent inequity in both access to
and quality of health care are well recognised. But a major
obstacle that India also faces, which many Indians might
be unaware of, relates to health data and a lack of data
transparency.
Accurate and up-to-date data are essential for health
policy, planning, and management, but the collection
and publication of such data in India have undergone
serious setbacks and impediments. The 2021 census
was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and for the
first time in 150 years, a whole decade has gone by with
no official comprehensive data on India or its people.
A promise that the next census will be an electronic
survey carried out in 2024 is yet to be fulfilled. The
census is also the basis for all national and state-level
health surveys.
Read more here
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)00740-2/fulltext