“Universal Health Coverage” was once hailed as “the single most important concept that public health has to offer.” ( Margaret Chan, 2012). But , even by WHO and UN assessments, it is off track, across most low and middle income countries !! In this conversation we look beyond implementation issues and disruption due the covid pandemic, to more basic questions about UHC as a strategy and as a discourse.”

Global Health Policies in an unequal world are more the resultant of political dynamics than of the public good. Introducing the WHO Tracker, a unique and powerful tool created by PHM, which empowers public health professionals, practitioners and policy makers in developing nations to understand and intervene in global policy setting and its adaptation to local needs. Use this to follow the ongoing discussions in the 77th World Health Assembly at Geneva.

We know that markets do not work to assure quality health care!! But what does? Over the last 15 years, the NHM has developed the National Quality Assurance System (NQAS) to assure quality in public health services. What is NQAS? Is it working? Is it scaleable? Is it enough? This conversation between Yogesh Jain and Sundararaman, the 8th in our series, explores the answers!!

The challenge is to secure ASHAs own rights as a woman and a front line health worker, while continuing to strengthen her solidarity with the community as part of an alternative vision of an organization of health services.