Focus Area: Primary Healthcare

Primary Healthcare is the foremost point of healthcare delivery to the user, making it the most crucial for a population’s well-being. It is instrumental in attaining Universal Health Coverage. India’s primary health system has been expanding in extent and capacity with policy interventions such as the Ayushman Bharat Yojana, among others. However, challenges persist at a systemic level, including low accessibility and high out-of-pocket expenditure. Workforce shortfalls plague the system (allopathic doctors across PHCs had a shortfall of 12%) combined with high service provider absenteeism, and a low perceived quality of care among users. The primary health system in India is in very early stages of focusing on prevention (moving away from a treatment-focused appoach) and establishing effective digitally enables systems of monitoring and governance.

We seek to develop knowledge to facilitate strengthened policy implementation, enable paradigm shifts in design of the primary health system in India and drive integrated systemic solutions. Our knowledge aims to enable outcomes of improved quality, easy and universal access and affordability, especially in last-mile rural settings.