Lancet Citizens’ Commission project team members.
The Lancet Citizens’ Commission on Reimagining India’s Health System—supported by the Mittal Institute—is an ambitious, cross-sectoral initiative aimed at charting a pathway toward universal health coverage for the people of India. Launched in December 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Commission has since undertaken a series of in-depth research studies. The public launch of its final report on January 21, 2026 in New Delhi, India marked the culmination of a multi-year effort to synthesize evidence and articulate reform pathways for a health system that is equitable, forward-looking, and accountable to India’s citizens.
A Citizen-Centred Health System: 6 Key Reform Actions
- Enable meaningful citizen engagement by firmly building the health system upon people’s participation
- Implement a citizen-centred health system through financing, purchasing, and service-delivery reforms in the public sector
- Engage the private sector to align with UHC goals
- Invest in and scale up diverse technologies to catalyse all the reforms needed for UHC
- Enable transparent and accountable governance of the entire health system through decentralisation and strengthened regulatory capacities
- Foster a learning health system by embedding reflexivity, participatory approaches, and leadership that champions continuous learning and improvement
Watch the Report Launch
Photos from the Report Launch
Vikram Patel, Mittal Institute Steering Committee Member and Commission Co-Chair; The Pershing Square Professor of Global Health, Harvard Medical School; Professor, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; Co-founder, Sangath, gives an opening talk on “India’s health system achievements in recent decades and key messages of the Lancet Commission.”
Left: Pamela Das, Senior Executive Editor, The Lancet, gives an opening address from the Lancet; Right: Hitesh Hathi, Executive Director, The Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute at Harvard University was the Master of Ceremonies who provided an opening welcome.
Tarun Khanna, Former Director of the Mittal Institute and Co-Chair of the Commission; Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor at the Harvard Business School, offers closing remarks.
Commission members gather with a hard copy of the report. L to R: Vikram Patel, Commission Co-Chair and The Pershing Square Professor of Global Health, Harvard Medical School and Professor, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; Tarun Khanna, Former Director of the Mittal Institute and Co-Chair of the Commission and Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor at the Harvard Business School; Anuska Kalita, Director, India Health Systems, Harvard University & Co-lead Author, Lancet Commission; Kheya Melo Furtado, Associate Professor, Goa Institute of Management & Author, Lancet Commission; Shubhangi Bhadada, Project Director, Lancet Commission on a Citizen-Centred Health System for India; Nachiket Mor, Visiting Scientist, Banyan Academy of Leadership in Mental Health & Commissioner and Author, Lancet Commission.
A session on “Implementing a citizen-centred health system through financing, purchasing, and service delivery reforms in the public sector” with (L-R) Ajay Tandon, Lead Economist, The World Bank; Indu Bhushan, Chairperson, Partnership for Impact (P4i), Former CEO of National Health Authority & Commissioner and Author, Lancet Commission; Anuska Kalita, Director, India Health Systems, Harvard University & Co-lead Author, Lancet Commission; Karthik Muralidharan, Professor, University of California, San Diego; Shamika Ravi, Economic Advisor to the Prime Minister, Government of India.
A session on “Invest in and scale up diverse technologies to catalyse Universal Health Coverage (UHC)” with Vijay Chandru Executive Advisor (Healthcare), ARTPark, Indian Institute of Science & Commissioner and Author, Lancet Commission; Kush Parmar, Managing Partner, 5AM Ventures; Vijay Kumar Saraswat, Member, NITI Aayog; Sunita Nadhamuni, Chairperson, Arghyam; Gaurav Agarwal, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, 1mg.
A session on “Engaging the private sector to align with UHC goals” with Nachiket Mor, Visiting Scientist, Banyan Academy of Leadership in Mental Health & Commissioner and Author, Lancet Commission; Viren Shetty, Vice Chairman, Narayana Health; Bindu Ananth, Chairperson, Dvara Holdings; Sanjay Nagral, Director of the Department of Surgical Gastroenterology, Jaslok Hospital; Alok Bansal, Co-founder, Policy Bazaar.
A session on “Enabling transparent, evidence-informed, and accountable governance of the Indian health system” with Kheya Melo Furtado, Associate Professor, Goa Institute of Management & Author, Lancet Commission; Santhosh Mathew, Country Lead, State Systems & Partnerships., Gates Foundation and ex- Joint Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India; K. Srinath Reddy, Founder President, Public Health Foundation of India; Soumya Swaminathan, ex-Director General, ICMR, ex-Secretary DoHR, GOI, ex-Deputy Director General, WHO; Pankaj Bhardwaj, Director, ICMR-NIIRNCD, Government of India.
A session on “Empowering citizens to be active stakeholders in the health system” with Poonam Muttreja, Executive Director, Population Foundation of India & Commissioner and Author, Lancet Commission; Amarjeet Sinha, Senior Fellow at the Centre for Social and Economic Progress and ex-Special Advisor to the Prime Minister & ex-Secretary Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India; Manoj Jhalani, Director, Department of Health Systems Development, WHO SEARO; Ex- Special Secretary and Mission Director, National Health Mission; Mirai Chatterjee, Director, SEWA Social Security & Commissioner and Author, Lancet Commission; Prashanth N.S., Director, Institute of Public Health.
☆ The views represented herein are those of the interview subjects and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Mittal Institute, its staff, or its steering committee.