The landscape of public health is changing rapidly in India. Even as multiple state governments make progress on increasing vaccine uptake, reducing child mortality and improving maternal health, new areas of focus have emerged. These include effective family nutrition, new approaches to contraceptive adoption and the involvement of community networks. 

 

At a national level it is envisaged that a new national insurance scheme will provide basic coverage for critical care through a new network of new low-cost private hospitals. Technology platforms like the CAS program are dramatically changing the way frontline workers manage their interactions with beneficiaries. And beneficiaries in even the most far-flung and hard to reach habitations are becoming more connected, more digital, more informed and therefore more empowered. By 2030, therefore, the areas of focus, the delivery channels, the character and quality of care, will all dramatically change. 

 

We are already confronting new kinds of diseases: obesity, cardiovascular, respiratory and autoimmune diseases borne from abundance, sedentary lifestyles and inappropriate nutrition are becoming more common. Chronic diseases of the body and mind owing to urban life and work styles have become more of a priority. Drug resistant strains of tuberculosis and other infectious diseases are becoming more common due to poor antibiotic regimes. And new epidemics or pandemics aided by global climate change may also arise, either from fauna within the South Asian region or other world regions and due to increased local migration. These new threats will soon be compounded by seasonal cycles of death due to heat stress, exhaustion and stroke. 

 

These new trends are likely, however, to coexist with the kinds of public health challenges we are already addressing. In every state and region of India the abundance and frenzy of urban life is emerging alongside the continuing scarcity of remote rural lifestyles. Health systems will therefore have to adapt to address both kinds of challenges at the same time. 

 

The way we deliver healthcare is also bound to change, on account of technology adoption, mediation and disruption, on account of new policy and regulatory regimes which increase the role of the private sector, and on account of increased human capacity and self efficacy, on both the beneficiary and service provider sides. Our convening will explore all of these kinds of changes from the perspective of the end user, their perceptions and behavior, their changing sensibilities within the wider culture and ecosystem. 

 

There are several different kinds of questions we aim to ask and answer: What will healthcare look like in India 2030? How can we speed positive change and avoid adverse outcomes? How can healthcare organizations prototype varying solutions and develop innovations that will help build this future? How can they collect evidence and develop consensus for these new directions? Human centered design, behavioral shaping, staged prototyping and evidence gathering are some of the skills, techniques and mechanisms of innovation that will be showcased at the Health Public Conclave. 

 

Using lightning talks, rapid fire panels, keynotes and speed-dating, Health Public will expose participants to an array of new case studies, examples, approaches and methodologies. It will also reintroduce the community to a new Indian and international partners who can together drive innovation in Health. It will conclude with the launch of a new visioning paper on India Health 2030 to which many ecosystem players have contributed.