Lancet panel proposes 8 COVID recommendations to Centre: Free vaccines, data transparency

As India's second deadly COVID-19 wave subsides, 21 members of the Lancet Citizens' Commission on Reimagining India's Health System proposed eight recommendations on Thursday to Central and state governments to tackle COVID-19. These recommendations include decentralised essential health services, transparent national pricing policy, evidence-based information dissemination, free vaccines for all and cash transfers. Currently, India has 7,98,656 active cases, 2,85,80,647 recovered cases and 3,83,490 fatalities.

Lancet commission proposes 8 recommendations: 'Urgent actions needed'

• Decentralised organisation of health services: District-level working groups must have the autonomy to respond to rapidly changing local situations

• Transparent national pricing policy:  Caps on the prices of all essential health services—eg, ambulances, oxygen, essential medicines, and hospital care must be uniform nationally. All local governments must be allocated their grants as recommended by the Fifteenth Finance Commission to augment COVID-19-related health services in their jurisdictions.

• Evidence-based information on COVID management: Information of international guidelines for home care and treatment, primary care, and district hospital care in local languages that incorporate local circumstances and clinical practice. widespread access to teleconsultation and care

• Deploying all human resources across health systems: All available human resources across all sectors of the health system, including the private sector, must be marshalled for the COVID-19 response and adequately resourced, particularly with sufficient personal protective equipment, guidance on the use of clinical interventions, insurance, and mental health support. This includes final-year medical students and AYUSH students.

• Free vaccine for all: Central systems to procure and distribute COVID-19 vaccines free of cost

• Community engagement and public participation: Collaboration between government and civil society organisations to create and disseminate accurate information, enabling home-based care, emphasising prevention, helping navigate access to life-saving treatment, and promoting vaccination. Restrictions on the capacity of non-governmental organisations to access foreign or domestic corporate social responsibility financial resources and human resource support must be withdrawn

• Transparency in govt data and modelling: Health system personnel require data on age and sex-disaggregated COVID-19 cases, hospitalisations, and mortality rates; community-level coverage of vaccination; and community-based tracking of the effectiveness of COVID-19 treatment protocols and long-term outcomes. Urgent investment must be done in genomic sequencing, adequate institutional capacity, and trained personnel to provide real-time alerts of SARS-CoV-2 variants, hot spots, and breakthrough infections.

• Cash transfers amid lockdown: There must be provisions for cash transfers by the state to workers in India's vast informal economy who have lost their jobs. If lockdowns are deemed necessary, on the basis of local epidemiological data, they must be announced well in advance.

The editorial penned by 21 industry experts include top doctors - Gagandeep Kang, Devi Shetty, Nachiket Mor, Centre for Policy research chief Yamini Aiyar, Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw. Lancet has stated that there is no substantial evidence to recommend that children can be highly affected or have larger severity as a result of COVID-19 during the anticipated third wave. Most states are now preparing for a third wave as India reports 62,000+ cases per day.