By transforming primary health centres across the nation, we will be inching closer to UHC: Rajesh Ranjan Singh, CEO, WISH

Primary Healthcare (PHC): The Role of NGOs

We have seen it; we have experienced that stronger primary healthcare services can really help us, not only during COVID or COVID-like diseases but in general situations as well. Why? Because data show that 80 to 90 percent of human health needs can be easily tackled at the primary healthcare level. So, if we strengthen it (primary healthcare), I think, we will be able to meet the unmet need for healthcare within the larger Indian setting.

The role of non-government organizations is paramount here. Initially, non-government institutions were reluctant, and critical role because there was a lack of opportunity for them to play a key and critical role. But over a period of time, we have seen that non-government agencies have started managing primary health centers in a public-private partnership mode. There was an opportunity for them to take over the functioning of primary healthcare centers and convert them into model centers.

A lot of non-profits have a digital health and med-tech bent, and they use these two to provide quality healthcare services, and also to improve data, which is essential to see how primary healthcare centers and services are functioning, and also whether they are really creating an impact on human lives. I think, there is a third role that non-profit and non-government agencies can play, even though health is a government subject. But the government also needs support for primary healthcare services from agencies. Both at the national and state levels, we have seen, including WISH, which runs technical support agencies to provide support to respective states in strengthening their primary healthcare response, that when it's a well-received response and the input is of quality, the state also benefits. In turn, the quality of services gets improved and the last mile (population) finally gets the services that are needed.

PHC: Can it bring us closer to UHC?

The government of India is on a massive journey of transforming almost 155,000 primary health centers across the nation. And if that happens by the next year or so, we will be able to move forward and take a giant leap toward Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

PHC: Impact of Digital Health Mission

The Ayushman Bharat Digital Health Mission, which was launched on August 15, 2021, by the honorable Prime Minister, brought digital health into the focus of all healthcare delivery systems – be it the National Health Authority or the National Health Mission; be it at the national level or at the state level. People have started accepting it as a medium to improve the healthcare delivery system, improve the data, use these technologies and tools, such as AI and ML to improve the performance of the healthcare delivery system, and timely and appropriate decision making so that input can be provided and action can be taken by the concerned authorities in real-time, and also improving the overall quality of primary health, which will actually assist in meeting the Universal Health Coverage deadline and timeline by the country.

WISH: Connecting the Dots

Eighty percent of WISH programs are focused on the rural last mile population. In fact, the whole philosophy of WISH is to transform primary healthcare through innovation, and if you see, both primary healthcare and innovation, which includes technologies, Med-tech, and process innovation, are helping the last mile by fulfilling their unmet (health) needs. Keeping that philosophy in mind since its inception (2014-2015), WISH has been running programs majorly in rural areas. Rural areas can be defined in multiple ways, but our focus has been on the areas that are far-flung, where the core and key health indicators are very low, and which align with the national and state priorities also. So, even the districts, the geographies, and the blocks are being selected keeping (in mind) the low-performing facilities and also the access and availability of services for the last mile population. So, keeping accessibility, availability, and affordability in mind, which we call the three A’s, WISH always prioritizes before developing any strategy, as well as intervention, and scaling up for the state.

This article was originally published on ET Healthworld.com on May 12, 2022