Context

• Timed between Human Rights Day and Universal Health Coverage Day, the National Convention on Health Rights convened in New Delhi in December 2025, gathering hundreds of health professionals, activists and community leaders.
• Organised by the Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA), the convention outlined a comprehensive rights-based vision for strengthening India’s public health system.
• Its themes, privatisation, inequitable financing, exploitation of health workers and structural discrimination, highlight the systemic challenges shaping India’s health landscape.

Privatisation and the Erosion of Public Health

• A central concern is the rapid expansion of privatisation across medical colleges and public hospitals.
• Public–private partnerships are increasingly transferring public institutions to private hands, threatening to weaken already fragile public services.
• For millions dependent on public health facilities, this shift risks deepening financial and social barriers.
• Commercial private health care, driven by domestic and foreign investments, has grown without adequate regulation.
• Despite the Clinical Establishments Act of 2010, enforcement remains minimal, resulting in overcharging, unnecessary procedures such as excessive caesarean sections, opaque pricing and recurring violations of patient rights.

Justice and Dignity for Health Workers

• The indispensable role of frontline health workers during COVID-19 underscores the urgency of addressing their ongoing precarity.
• Many doctors, nurses, paramedics and support staff continue to face low wages, insecure contracts and inadequate social protection.
• The convention highlights that a resilient health system depends on fair compensation, safe working conditions, adequate staffing and comprehensive social security for all health workers.

Medicines, Market Failures, Public Access and Revitalising Public Health Systems

• Medicines, Market Failures and Public Access
  • Medicines account for a significant portion of household medical expenses.
  • With over 80% of medicines outside price control, patients are burdened by high retail markups, irrational drug combinations and aggressive marketing practices.
  • The convention calls for stronger regulatory oversight, removal of GST on essential medicines and the expansion of public sector pharmaceutical production to ensure equitable access to essential drugs.
• Revitalising Public Health Systems
  • Strong public health systems remain essential for the over 80 crore people who depend on public provisioning.
  • The convention highlights successful community-led models and innovative state-level approaches illustrating that improved health systems are achievable through decentralised planning, adequate financing and community participation.
  • The vision advanced is of a health system that is publicly funded, publicly accountable and grounded in the right to health.

The Way Forward

• Addressing Social Inequities in Health Care
  • Entrenched social hierarchies continue to shape health outcomes in India. Dalits, Adivasis, Muslims, LGBTQ+ persons and persons with disabilities experience systemic discrimination and exclusion in accessing care.
  • A session on gender and social justice emphasises embedding inclusion, non-discrimination and equal access within health systems.
  • Recognising health as a product of broader determinants, the convention links health with food security, environmental degradation and climate change, calling for intersectoral, equity-focused approaches.
• A Legacy of Struggle and a Call for the Future
  • Marking its 25th anniversary, JSA reflects on decades of collaboration with women’s groups, science organisations, rural movements and patient advocacy networks.
  • The convention, held during the winter session of Parliament, facilitates dialogue with Members of Parliament to push for legislative and policy reforms anchored in health rights.
  • It celebrates past victories while outlining strategies for the decade ahead.

Conclusion

• The National Convention on Health Rights offers a powerful rights-based framework for transforming India’s health sector.
• By confronting the challenges of privatisation, inadequate public funding, weak regulation and structural inequalities, it articulates a clear demand: health care must serve people, not profits.
• Strengthening public systems, protecting health workers, regulating private care and embedding social justice are essential steps toward realising the right to health for all in India.