Theme of World Health Day continued for the 2nd year in row (2018–2019) – What it means to India

Every year, the World Health Organization (WHO) celebrates World Health Day with a particular theme to aware the masses about the subject and focus on its relevance. For the past 2 years (2018–2019), the WHO has kept the theme same considering its prime importance in the contemporary world. The theme “Universal Health Coverage: Everyone Everywhere” is very pertinent for developing countries like India where universal access to adequate health care is a distant dream. Increasing health-care needs with high out-of-pocket expenditure is not allowing the public to move out of poverty. In contrast to continuous rise in the demand for health care, the supply side in India is not prepared to meet the challenges of complex determinants of health. In the past, there have been several interventions in the form of health insurance schemes with its own challenges of fragmentation of risk pools and no linkages with primary health care. Considering these challenges, the Government of India (GOI) has adopted a two-pronged strategy under the ambit of Ayushman Bharat Program. The first approach is upgrading primary health centers and subcenters to health and wellness centers and the second is the launch of Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana. Through this program, GOI aims to achieve universal health coverage by 2022 which is achievable, but the challenges in reality are immense.