Elsevier Launches Landmark Literature on India's Healthcare Reforms

NEW DELHI, February 9, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

New book, Health Care Reforms in India: Making Up for the Lost Decades by Rajendra Pratap Gupta, looks at gaps and opportunities for improving healthcare outcomes in the country

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, recently announced the launch of Health Care Reforms in India: Making Up for the Lost Decade, an authoritative and incisive look at India's healthcare system from the perspective of Rajendra Pratap Gupta, an expert healthcare observer as well as an influential and respected voice on public policy, innovation and the economy.

A media report^[1] cited World Health Organization's (WHO) recommendation of 1:1000 as the minimum requirement for doctor-to-population ratio, but The Lancet^[2] puts India's statistics at an average of less than 0.4 doctors per 1,000 population count. There is also a gaping disparity in healthcare support between India's rural and urban areas, with a supply of only 0.12 doctors to every 1,000 population in rural communities when compared to an urban supply of 1.13 doctors to every 1,000 population.

Health Care Reforms in India: Making Up for the Lost Decade - launched on February 3 to about 200 key academic, pharmaceutical, hospital and government representatives at the Elsevier-hosted "State of Health Care Reforms in India" seminar - documents the development of India's health care sector over the last 65 years and seeks to minimize the disparity by making the case for political priority and policies for universal healthcare coverage as well as an upstream pre-emptive approach to health through technology deployment and enablement.

"Health Care Reforms in India: Making Up for the Lost Decade is a milestone study into India's health care situation and provides insightful analyses of the history, policies and systems governing health care in the country," said Terig Hughes, Managing Director of Health Solutions for South and Southeast Asia at Elsevier, that publishes Gupta's work. "This important and well-researched piece of work highlights India's strategic focus and development goals of its health care system that includes thought-provoking recommendations and proposal for effective reforms."

Added Hughes: "Elsevier's objective is to ensure that government agencies as well as health care institutions, practitioners and workers have access to content, insights and information that help them understand and formulate effective policies to address the challenges of India's health care system. Gupta's book will surely resonate locally and globally with those in the field."

The book is available via the following channels:

Amazon:  http://www.amazon.in/Health-Care-Reforms-India-Decades/dp/8131243346/

Flipkart:  http://www.flipkart.com/health-care-reforms-india-making-up-lost-decades-english/p/itmefjq7d48ztrzk

Kindle:  http://www.amazon.in/Health-Care-Reforms-India-Decades-ebook/dp/B01AUPJ816

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1. U Anand Kumar, "India has just one doctor for every 1700 people",< http://www.newindianexpress.com/magazine/India-has-just-one-doctor-for-every-1700-people/2013/09/22/article1792010.ece >, New Indian Express, 22 September 2013.

2. Rao, M., K. Rao, A. Kumar, M. Chatterjee and V. Sundararaman (2011), "Human Resources for Health in India", Lancet, Vol. 377, Issue 9765, Pgs 587 - 598, February.

Literary Reviews of Health Care Reforms in India: Making Up for the Lost Decade 

Senator Tom Daschle 

Former Senate Majority & Minority Leader, United States of America 

"Wealth of insights is captured in this well-researched book on health care reforms. Rajendra has done a great job in making a compelling case of 'All for Health' for 'Health for All', and why politicians must keep health, which pays rich electoral dividends as a 'Unique Electoral Preposition', on the top of their agenda. The idea of 'Pre-emptive care' starting with children will have a lasting impact on the future of health care. This book is entertaining, provocative, lively, well-written and is a must read for people who are passionate to drive change in health care." 

J.P. Nadda 

Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Government of India 

"Insightful - This book walks you through the evolution of health care in India from the pre-independence era till date and presents a new perspective on health and health care. Interesting read." 

Lord Nigel Crisp 

NHS Chief Executive and Permanent Secretary of the UK Department of Health, 2000 - 2006 

"In recent years, global policy makers have realised how much they can learn from India's leading health organisations and practitioners, with their innovation and development of new models of care. This book is a fitting accompaniment. Comprehensive and detailed, it offers interesting insights into the health of India's population and makes a passionate appeal for political priority to be given to universal health coverage and for an upstream pre-emptive approach to health." 

Dr. Thomas Zeltner 

Former Secretary of Health, Switzerland 

"This book is a must read for everyone interested in the Health Care System of India - and beyond. It is a very comprehensive source of up-to-date information and facts. But more importantly, it is a book rich in thought provoking ideas and reform proposals, which are of global relevance. One may agree with them or not. But in any event: India is well advised to carefully analyze the author's assessment and reforms agenda." 

Prof. George F. Smoot 

Nobel Prize Winner for Physics (2006) 

"The book is thought provoking and inspiring. It is an excellent compendium of facts about the Indian and other Health Care Systems. It proposes to make 'healthcare' as a Unique Electoral Proposition (UEP), which I see as an apt prescription for political leaders across the globe. Also, the author makes 

a strong recommendation for 'Pre-Emptive care model' based on prevention, starting with Child Health - this model has the potential to address the long-term issues in health care. I encourage others to read and study this book for ideas on how to handle one of the premier global issues." 

Aneesh Chopra 

Former Chief Technology Officer, United States of America 

"Rajendra captures the essence of health reforms in his must-read treatise on global health. His emphasis on 'prevention' is spot on and critical for us to meet our global challenges without breaking the bank." 

George C. Halvorson 

Former Chairman & CEO, Kaiser Permanente 

"India will be well-served by looking at all of the issues that relate to health and health care delivery. Simply looking at separate pieces of the problem may offer value for those pieces, but a more effective set of solutions could be developed by looking more broadly at both the challenges and the opportunities that reach across the entire scope of the health care continuum. This nicely comprehensive book is intended to be a step in that direction. It adds clear value to the debate and could be a useful tool for figuring out the best strategy for the future." 

Sripad Naik 

Minister of State (Independent Charge) for AYUSH and Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare, Government of India 

"It is nice to know that years of your sincere work in the field of Health Care Reforms will fructify in the form of a well-timed book. Your book is a compendium on Health Care and I must say that this is a seminal treatise on health care, based on exhaustive research. The book has covered various aspects of health care and is akin to a data bank on Indian Health Care! Revealing facts and intriguing insights make it unique to its core. It's thought provoking, inspiring and simply an incredible work. Congrats!" 

Dr. Prathap C. Reddy 

Founder Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group 

"I would like to congratulate Rajendra for making a spot-on analysis of health care challenges and making practical recommendations. The need to focus on universal health cover is more pronounced than ever before as is the need to emphasize pre-emptive care. This book is a reader's delight, especially for those who aim to solve global health care problems." 

Dr. Devi Shetty 

Chairman, Narayana Health 

"I always felt that India will become the first country in the world to dissociate health care from affluence. Rajendra has shown why it will happen and how it will happen and to some extent, when it will happen. The book makes a profoundly interesting reading with overwhelming data to prove that, for the stability of the society, we need to develop robust health care system with equal participation by the government, private and NGO sectors. I strongly feel that a copy of this should be distributed to every policy maker of this country." 

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Notes for Editors 

Print and e-copies of the book are available to credentialed journalists for review upon request. Please enquire at indiacontact@elsevier.com or +91-124-4774444.

About Elsevier 

Elsevier is a world-leading provider of information solutions that enhance the performance of science, health, and technology professionals, empowering them to make better decisions, deliver better care, and sometimes make groundbreaking discoveries that advance the boundaries of knowledge and human progress. Elsevier provides web-based, digital solutions - among them, Scopus, Elsevier Research Intelligence and ClinicalKey - and publishes more than 2,500 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and more than 33,000 book titles, including a number of iconic reference works. Elsevier is part of RELX Group plc, a world-leading provider of information solutions for professional customers across industries. http://www.elsevier.com.

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