At the height of the SARS crisis that hit East Asia in 2003, the Health Minister of Vietnam, Madame Tran Thi Trung Chien, told me, “Mr. Indu, we can catch crabs only during low tide.” Vietnam being largely a coastal country, she had very cogently contextualised Churchill’s famous quote, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.”

The country — indeed the world at large — is facing the century’s biggest crisis. Countries across the development spectrum are grappling with an unprecedented situation in which a viral illness, COVID-19, has spiralled into a global pandemic in less than 90 days, bringing most of the world to a standstill.

Countries across the development spectrum are grappling with an unprecedented situation in which a seemingly innocuous viral illness, the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), has spiralled into a global pandemic in less than 90 days. It has infected more than 1.7 million people in more than 200 countries, claimed over 100,000 lives, and brought most of the world to a standstill.

It has been close to 18 months since the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, launched the country-wide implementation of Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), or the national health protection scheme; the initial momentum has been very encouraging.

Among the three major specialty services provided by PM-JAY— oncology, cardiology and nephrology — a majority of the users of oncology services are women. However, there are large gender gaps in the use of cardiology and nephrology-related services.

The dream of providing universal health coverage (UHC) has never been as close to reality as it is now. As we mark the UHC Day, let us acknowledge that India needs UHC.

The health and wellness centres (HWCs) under the Ayushman Bharat scheme have the potential to help achieve the Universal Health Coverage goal, but inadequate infrastructure and an insufficiently skilled workforce remain major roadblocks.

Free secondary and tertiary treatment worth nearly Rs. 7,996 crores availed. Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh emerge as the top performing States More than half a crore treatments have been availed by poor and vulnerable Indians through Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), the flagship scheme of the Government of India in its first one year of operation.

Sixteen years ago, when there was drought in Karnataka, farmers lost the capacity to buy healthcare. I was able to convince the state government to launch a micro health insurance scheme through cooperative societies with a premium of Rs 5 per month per person. The government was kind enough to agree to be the reinsurer. Four hundred hospitals across the state agreed to treat these patients. This is how the Yeshasvini micro health insurance scheme was born.

It is now time for the private sector to rise up to the challenge posed by Ayushman Bharat in one year since its inception.

A healthy India is a wealthy India. For an emerging economic superpower, health of its people is critical for economic productivity. Ayushman Bharat, which recently completed a year of existence, was conceptualised as an insurance based, healthcare delivery model that dovetails both preventive and curative healthcare at a coverage of Rs 5,00,000 per family per year.

There is no trade-off between primary care and curative care; the policy challenge is to strengthen both. Ayushman Bharat does exactly that with its two legs.

Ayushman Bharat is a conscious attempt to holistically address health, encompassing prevention, promotion and ambulatory care at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels.

Our people are our greatest strength. India cannot realise its demographic dividend without its citizens being healthy. This government believes in realising the full potential of our people, and, so, has made health a national priority.

Our people are our greatest strength. India cannot realise its demographic dividend without its citizens being healthy. This government resolutely believes in realising the full potential of our people and has therefore made health a national priority.

Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) has been the most talked about health sector scheme in recent times. Given the scale and ambition of the scheme – with its target group larger than the combined population of Canada, the United States and Mexico – it is not surprising. As could be expected, the scheme has a large number of supporters who are highly inspired by its vision and promise.

Recent media reports, including ones in this newspaper, have raised concerns that Ayushman Bharat promotes secondary and tertiary care at the cost of primary care. These reports attribute these concerns to Amartaya Sen’s recent comments on the scheme, which may have been taken out of context.

Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana will catalyse changes in the health sector. It is not a substitute for a foundation built on primary care.

Flowing from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visionary leadership, the National Health Policy 2017 was formulated to achieve the highest possible level of good health and well-being, and universal access to good quality healthcare services without anyone having to face financial hardship as a consequence.

The sight of a family teetering on the brink of hope and despondency, surviving and falling into economic ruin on account of ill health is distressingly common. GoI’s health expenditure at 1.13% of its GDP is the lowest among the emerging developing countries. China’s expenditure is 2.45%, and Thailand’s 2.90% of its GDP.

The Ayushman Bharat Yojna is a path-breaking scheme. It is capable of exercising a transformative impact if implemented in an effective and coordinated manner