PUBLIC health experts have put out a call in an open letter for the chief adviser to the interim government, seeking early action for the implementation of the recommendations of the reforms commission on the health sector. What is special about the event is that the experts who have put out the call were mostly members of the reforms commission, which the interim government set up along with four other commissions on local government, labour issues, women鈥檚 affairs and the media on November 18, 2024. The commission on health sector reforms submitted its recommendations on May 4. The government appears evidently busy with the six other commissions that the interim government set up on October 3, 2024 on electoral reforms, police administrative reforms, judiciary reforms, anti-corruption reforms, public administration reforms and constitutional reforms, which submitted their recommendations between January 15 and February 5. The national consensus commission had held dialogues with political parties on the recommendations of the six commissions in two rounds between March 20 and July 31. In such a situation, the signatories to the open letter to the chief adviser stress prompt action, noting that without timely, strategic implementation, critical policy recommendations would risk being left in official documents with little impact.
The open letter says that the health sector reforms commission has worked out a strategic, timely blueprint for structural changes in health governance. And, the recommendations offer more than ways to improve service coverage or quality. They, rather, lay out a broader framework for institutional reforms and systemic transformation. The experts, therefore, call for a nationally prioritised road map, noting that several of the recommendations remain within the purview of the interim government鈥檚 administrative scope. The primary step that the experts seek is an early administrative, legal step for the institution of a permanent health commission, which would be independent, accountable and high-powered to provide strategic direction and leadership in formulating and implementing a long-term road map for sustainable reforms in the health sector. The open letter also seeks a quality-assured public health infrastructure and functional free primary health services with a mandatory referral mechanism in both rural and urban areas. And, commission has also recommended that primary health care should be made a constitutional right. As the government鈥檚 having not held any discussion on the recommendations of the commission on health sector reforms suggests that the recommendations 鈥� mostly, if not all 鈥� could be readied for implementation.
The government should not, therefore, leave the recommendations of the commission on the health sector reforms 鈥� and also the four other commissions 鈥� in the lurch as such unwillingness will render the whole exercise futile.