On May 13, the Lancet Citizens’ Commission on Reimagining India’s Health System held a joint webinar with the Lancet COVID-19 Commission India Task Force on “The COVID-19 Crisis in India: What is the Way Forward?” The webinar, the first in a new series, engaged academics, practitioners and the public about the recent COVID-19 pandemic surge in India. The discussion focused on the short and long-term actions that are needed to address the impact, and drew input from the following participants:
Panelists:
- Gagandeep Kang, Professor of Microbiology, Department of Gastrointestinal Sciences, Christian Medical College
- Peter Piot, Director and Handa Professor of Global Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
- Gautam Menon, Professor of Physics and Biology, Ashoka University
- K. Sujatha Rao, Former Secretary of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India
- K Srinath Reddy, President, Public Health Foundation of India
Moderator:
Sarah Jacob, Editor/Anchor of ‘We The People’ on NDTV
About the Event Sponsors
The Lancet Citizens’ Commission on Reimagining India’s Health System is an ambitious, cross-sectoral endeavor that aims to lay out a citizens’ roadmap to achieving universal health coverage for the people of India. Our new webinar series is intended to serve as a platform for public health discourse in India, and a means for academics, practitioners and the public to engage on substantive and timely issues regarding universal health coverage in India.
The Lancet COVID-19 Commission is an interdisciplinary initiative across the health sciences, business, finance, and public policy that was launched in July 2020. It has four themes: to propose recommendations on how best to suppress the epidemic; to address the humanitarian crises arising from the pandemic; addressing the financial and economic crises resulting from the pandemic; and rebuilding an inclusive, fair, and sustainable world. The work of the Commission is supported by twelve Task Forces, in areas ranging from vaccine development, to humanitarian relief strategies, to safe workplaces, to global economic recovery. The India Task Force of the COVID-19 Commission is the only country-specific Task Force, set up in recognition of the unique challenges that India faces in the context of COVID-19.
