Health system for a new India: building blocks- potential paths to reform

India has made significant progress in improving its health outcomes over the last two decades. many key indicators, however, continue to show considerable scope of improvement. India now needs to build on its many opportunities to respond to the growing aspirations and needs of a new India. The vision for health in India in the next fifteen years is to transform the delivery of health services in a way that health outcomes improve at a much greater peace, without financially burdening its citizens. Consultations as a part of our "Development Dialogues" series have been initiated to generated debate and discussion on the vision for our nation. We launched this series with a workshop titled "Health System for a New India: Building Blocks" on November 30, 2018. The dialogue engaged international and national experts and key stakeholders to engender an informed discussion and debate on the trajectory of India's health system. Through such dialogues, we aim to facilitate conversations on a systemic approach to reforming healthcare in India. For the first in the Development Dialogue series, NITI Aayog brought together, discussions on the key health systems themes of financing and provisioning with a focus on risk pooling, strategic purchasing, health service provisioning and digital health. The discussions were based on the analyses by global and national experts, in particular Dr Cristian Baeza, Dr Jack Langenbrunner, Dr Jerry La Forgia, and Dr Dennis Streveler who have been engaged in consolidating global experiences in this regard, Mr. Alok Kumar, Advisor (Health) NITI Aayog contributed in synthesizing all the inputs for transforming the Indian health st system in the 21 Century and how that might inform India's fifteen-year vision on health. This book is an attempt to bring together all the valuable finding of these studies including supporting data from this analysis. With regards to financing, the book talks of improving financial risk protection and reforming fiscal transfers. For better provisioning of healthcare services, strengthening primary care accelerating human resources development, implementing digital information systems, and improving access to quality medicines are some of the suggested areas of focus. The book also incorporates the discussions from the Development Dialogue wherein the authors presented their work to a wide audience.