On the path to Universal Health Coverage: aligning ongoing health systems reforms in India

Abstract

The health of India’s population has witnessed significant improvements over the past two decades. The infant mortality rate (IMR) has fallen from over 71 per 1000 live births in 1998 to 31 per 1000 live births in 2017. Maternal mortality has declined even more dramatically, from 540 maternal deaths in 1998 to 170 maternal deaths per 100 000 live births in 2013, a fall of close to 70%.1 These reductions in mortality have been accompanied by a major shift in India’s disease burden. Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer, which accounted for 30% of disease burden in 1990, represented over 55% of the disease burden in 2016, while communicable, maternal and child diseases accounted for nearly one-third of the burden.2