India

Key research question:

Can a local body in India that includes local government officials and members of elected representative bodies ensure that government and donor resources are used to address the health needs of the poor and protect them against major shocks?

Members of the India research team

The research initiatives of the Future Health Systems RPC in India address the inequity in health status and health care. Inequity is one of the fundamental problems with the Indian health care system. The research will be implemented in three phases:

1. a series of scoping studies to prepare a knowledge base on which an appropriate strategy for an equitable health care system would be developed;
2. an intervention piloted in one district to implement the above strategy; and
3. an evaluation of the impact of the strategy.

The three principle research questions for the Phase – I studies are:

1. how does the link between poverty and health manifest itself in the Indian health care market?
2. how much is the supply side environment oriented towards equitable distribution of resources?
3. is the answer a decentralization of institutions to make the system work for the poor?

The studies are extremely important for two reasons. First, there is a significant knowledge gap about the demand and supply of health care delivery. This is especially true for poor and vulnerable groups and this needs to be filled before an appropriate pro-poor strategy is designed. Second, the current gaps in policy can be better addressed with this research support.

The studies and consequent action research will be carried out in West Bengal, one of the Indian states in the first year of the FHS project. The results of the studies will serve two purposes:

1. a master proposal for a pilot intervention in one district will be developed; and
2. a few major proposals will be developed.