Context India

The health of India’s healthcare sector

Host Faye D’Souza unpacks how the COVID-19 pandemic exposed under-investment, inequality in India’s healthcare system.

In the final episode of Context India, we examine how the Indian healthcare sector crumbled under the pressure of the second wave of COVID-19.

We speak with Srinath Reddy, the president of the Public Health Foundation of India, and Malini Aisola, the co-convenor of the All India Drug Action Network, to understand the issues of insufficient investment in public healthcare, the severe shortage of oxygen in many parts of India, and India’s vaccine policy.

Host Faye D’Souza also discusses India’s healthcare challenges – in the short and long term – with Sudhanshu Mittal, the national spokesman of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Sujatha Rao, the former secretary of health.

We close with an excerpt of a Punjabi song by artist Vipul Verma, titled Mahamaari which translates to ‘Pandemic’.