The health of any nation is the sum total of the health status of its citizens, communities and settlements in which they live. A healthy nation is, therefore, only feasible if there is total
participation of its citizens in achieving this goal. In the last seven decades, we have followed a path of social transformation which mainly relies on six major institutions, namely, the Parliament, the Assembly, the Cabinet, the Bureaucracy, the Judiciary and Party functionaries. In the absence of mediating and reconciling agencies between the State and Society, the State lacks a base and remains remote and insensitive to people’s needs. Unfortunately, our development efforts have not been rooted in our traditional institutions and community initiatives which exist in some form or the other throughout the country. Progress is easiest made if we are tuned with the national genius acceptability which has developed over the centuries, with certain special traits. If it is ignored or discarded, it will lose its bearing and roots and gradually its vitality.
The last National Health Policy was formulated in the year 2002. Our country has gone through significant transition and change in the last decade. But unfortunately, there has been an uneven improvement in the health status of our people. While we are grappling with old unaddressed and incomplete agenda, we are confronted with newer concerns. Health is not about Drug, Disease and Doctor. A healthy nation is possible only with qualitative effort of all stakeholders to address both conventional health parameters and also the social determinants of health and overall health awareness among its citizens and dramatic improvement in the governance of health sector.
The Independent Commission on Development and Health in India feels happy that the new Government in office has decided to review the National Health Policy which was last announced in 2002 and decided to create space for wide ranging consultations with stakeholders to elicit their views. The Commission had a few internal discussions with its members and experts and decided to present a framework for the new Health Policy bringing out the essential elements which should constitute the new Policy. If this framework finds acceptance with the Government, the Commission would be happy to be associated with the consultation process and the drafting of the new Policy.