Reform the healthcare service delivery model based on person-centred care approach
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The irony of current times is that despite the writing on the wall "health is a fundamental human right," the ground reality cannot be farther from the truth. Over 70% people die of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) - a significant number of them are preventable. An infectious disease like TB, which is preventable and curable, continues to be the deadliest infectious disease worldwide - especially in the Global South. When HIV combination prevention should be a reality, along with treatment as prevention, over 630,000 people died of AIDS-related illnesses in 2024 - and 1.3 million were newly diagnosed with HIV in 2024 (hardly any change when compared with 2023 data). If every life matters, then why is A for accountability, missing from global health?
After funding cuts by the US earlier in 2025 and other nations, the situation has become grimmer. "Global health suffers from sudden funding cuts, compromised logistic supply and massive reduction of the number of healthcare givers. The current time necessitates to establish the principle of achieving much more with much less by rapid enhancement of the quality of the services and healthcare," said Dr Sugata Mukhopadhyay, a noted global health thought leader who has worked on improving person-centred healthcare with governments as well as other stakeholders in several countries of the Global South, notably India and Mozambique as well as Indonesia, Nepal and Thailand. He also consults for a range of organisations including Humana People to People India (HPPI), which has demonstrated groundbreaking results in reaching the unreached high-risk people with best of public TB services and social support.
Let us first serve those who are farthest behind
Mahatma Gandhi's talisman is perhaps the best guiding light to reform the public health and social justice system: "I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test- "Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man [woman] whom you may have seen, and ask yourself if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him [her]. Will he [she] gain anything by it? Will it restore him [her] to a control over his [her] own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj [freedom] for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away," said Gandhi ji.
Our health system must meet the needs of the poorest of the poor and weakest of the weak. And the same quality of service which goes to this person should be a benchmark for everyone else.
Person-centred care helps us reach those currently unreached with equity and rights
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