senior fellow, health initiative, @orfonline.
student of health policy. patient. optimist. marathon, not sprint.
#HealthForAll #SDGs #UHC.
Articles by Oommen C. Kurian
eSanjeevani at Half a Billion: Remote Care Through the Public Clinic
India’s national telemedicine service has crossed 500 million consultations, driven largely by a model that routes remote advice through public primary care Image Source: Getty Images India’s national telemedicine service crossed 500 million consultations on 15 September 2026. By October, eSanjeevani was supporting more than 142,000 Ayushman Arogya Mandir spokes and 19,473 medical hubs across all 36 states and Union Territories, handling approximately 250,000–300,000 consultations daily.
eSanjeevani at Half a Billion: Remote Care Through the Public Clinic
India’s national telemedicine service has crossed 500 million consultations, driven largely by a model that routes remote advice through public primary care Image Source: Getty Images India’s national telemedicine service crossed 500 million consultations on 15 September 2026. By October, eSanjeevani was supporting more than 142,000 Ayushman Arogya Mandir spokes and 19,473 medical hubs across all 36 states and Union Territories, handling approximately 250,000–300,000 consultations daily.
Drug Regulation That Forgets: Why A Blacklisted Company Kept Supplying the Health System
Image Source: Getty Images Between 5 and 17 May 2026, five women died after Caesarean deliveries at two government hospitals in Kota. A Rajasthan laboratory subsequently reported that Tocin, an oxytocin injection made by Jackson Laboratories, contained no detectable oxytocin. The state banned the batch; its health minister said the vials contained only water. Punjab cancelled the company’s Amritsar manufacturing licence in June, and a nationwide recall was ordered.
From Project Aid to Platform Partnerships: Financing Health in the Indo-Pacific
Issue BriefsPublished on Sep 25, 2026 PDF Download Add as preferred on Google This brief reviews recent literature on health financing in the Indo-Pacific and argues for a shift from fragmented projects to durable platform partnerships that countries can sustain. Evidence shows uneven financial protection despite recovery in service use, with tight fiscal space projected through the decade.
Tolerating Inefficiency: Building Strategic Redundancy in Indian Pharma
Image Source: Getty Images India's efforts to enhance domestic production of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) now present a revealing paradox. In 2024-25, China accounted for 74.1 percent of India's imports of bulk drugs and drug intermediates by value — INR 29,064 crore out of INR 39,214 crore — up from 70.5 percent two years earlier.
Tolerating Inefficiency: Building Strategic Redundancy in Indian Pharma
Image Source: Getty Images India's efforts to enhance domestic production of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) now present a revealing paradox. In 2024-25, China accounted for 74.1 percent of India's imports of bulk drugs and drug intermediates by value — INR 29,064 crore out of INR 39,214 crore — up from 70.5 percent two years earlier.
Cancer Care in India: Reading the WHO Global Status Report 2026
Image Source: Getty Images India's cancer challenge is steadily moving from the margins of health policy to the centre of the debate on health-system capacity. An earlier Observer Research Foundation (ORF) assessment argued for stronger prevention, early detection, and access to quality cancer care.
Cancer Care in India: Reading the WHO Global Status Report 2026
Image Source: Getty Images India's cancer challenge is steadily moving from the margins of health policy to the centre of the debate on health-system capacity. An earlier Observer Research Foundation (ORF) assessment argued for stronger prevention, early detection, and access to quality cancer care.
Two New Studies Shift India’s Generic Medicines Debate
Image Source: Pexels Few debates in Indian health policy are as stubborn as the one around generic medicines. Circular reasoning often shapes medicine choices: when the preference for a familiar brand is attributed to quality, the evidence offered for that quality may still be the brand itself. Doctors have valid reasons for caution, but price and familiarity have gradually become substitutes for evidence.
Adult Immunisation in India: What the Latest Data Tell Us
A landmark NSS health round has, for the first time, counted what India spends on adult vaccines, who gets them, and where, and the data may well be the first step towards a programme its elderly have long needed. Image Source: Getty Images India vaccinates nearly 9 in 10 children, but reaches fewer than 1 in 200 older adults. The latest NSS data reveal the absence of a structured adult immunisation programme despite a rapidly ageing population.
Adult Immunisation in India: What the Latest Data Tell Us
Image Source: Getty Images Until the National Sample Survey (NSS) 80th Round on health in 2025, the only nationally representative data source on adult vaccination in India was the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI) Wave 1, conducted in 2017–18.
Securing India’s Future through Healthy Ageing: Building an Economic Case for Adult Immunisation
Date: Sep 25, 2026 Time: 03:00 PM The roundtable will present the methodology, assumptions and initial findings from ORF’s ongoing study, supported by GSK India, on the economic case for adult immunisation in India. The discussion will seek expert validation of the analytical approach and emerging results, identify gaps or areas requiring refinement, and gather suggestions to strengthen the final analysis and policy recommendations.
Women’s Health Futures in India: Technology, Workforce, and Finance for Lifelong Well-Being
Oommen C. Kurian Shoba Suri K. S. Uplabdh Gopal Rahul Manchanda India’s women’s health agenda must move beyond a narrow focus on reproduction to a life-course perspective that spans chronic disease, mental health, unpaid care, and ageing. Recognising that women’s health needs evolve across life stages, this report examines how digital health and AI, workforce design, women-centric health entrepreneurship, and the financing and governance of health systems shape women’s health outcomes.
Assessing India’s Social Determinants of Health Approach Using NFHS-6 Data
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare released the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS-6 (2023-24)) fact sheets on 29 May 2026, covering nearly 6.79 lakh households across 715 districts. Compared with NFHS-5 (2019-21), the latest survey points to broad-based gains across maternal health, child immunisation, and nutrition.
Assessing India’s Social Determinants of Health Approach Using NFHS-6 Data
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare released the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS-6 (2023-24)) fact sheets on 29 May 2026, covering nearly 6.79 lakh households across 715 districts. Compared with NFHS-5 (2019-21), the latest survey points to broad-based gains across maternal health, child immunisation, and nutrition.
The Strait of Hormuz Disruption and India's Pharmaceutical Sector
India's pharmaceutical sector holds a prominent position in the global health architecture, ranking third in the world by pharmaceutical production volume, operating over 2,000 WHO-GMP-approved manufacturing facilities, and hosting more USFDA-compliant plants than any country outside the United States.
The Strait of Hormuz Disruption and India's Pharmaceutical Sector
India's pharmaceutical sector holds a prominent position in the global health architecture, ranking third in the world by pharmaceutical production volume, operating over 2,000 WHO-GMP-approved manufacturing facilities, and hosting more USFDA-compliant plants than any country outside the United States.
India’s 2025 National Health Survey Update: Higher Access, Persistent Financial Risk
The National Sample Survey (NSS) 80th round on health, conducted between January and December 2025, gives India a full-year, post-pandemic picture of household-level morbidity, treatment-seeking, hospitalisation, childbirth, insurance coverage, and out-of-pocket spending. Considered India’s richest data source for population-level health indicators, the survey interviewed 1,39,732 households in rural and urban India and was designed to capture different aspects of health-seeking behaviour.
India’s 2025 National Health Survey Update: Higher Access, Persistent Financial Risk
The National Sample Survey (NSS) 80th round on health, conducted between January and December 2025, gives India a full-year, post-pandemic picture of household-level morbidity, treatment-seeking, hospitalisation, childbirth, insurance coverage, and out-of-pocket spending. Considered India’s richest data source for population-level health indicators, the survey interviewed 1,39,732 households in rural and urban India and was designed to capture different aspects of health-seeking behaviour.
Lenacapavir and the Long Road from ‘Miracle’ to Global Access
Lenacapavir, an HIV drug that has been variously termed “a miracle”, “revolutionary”, “a game changer”, and “a turning point for HIV/AIDS”, has acquired an unusual place in the contemporary HIV response because it combines exceptional clinical promise with mounting global concern over access. It was Science Magazine’s 2024 Breakthrough of the Year and was by the World Health Organization (WHO) in July 2025.
Lenacapavir and the Long Road from ‘Miracle’ to Global Access
Lenacapavir, an HIV drug that has been variously termed “a miracle”, “revolutionary”, “a game changer”, and “a turning point for HIV/AIDS”, has acquired an unusual place in the contemporary HIV response because it combines exceptional clinical promise with mounting global concern over access. It was Science Magazine’s 2024 Breakthrough of the Year and was by the World Health Organization (WHO) in July 2025.
Standing With Science in a Staff-Scarce Health System: The Promise of AI
Image Source: Getty Images This essay is part of the series: World Health Day 2026: Standing with Science in an Age of Shared Risk World Health Day 2026 is framed by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a year-long campaign that promotes scientific collaboration as a precondition for credible policy and collective action. It positions public trust as a determinant of health outcomes, and places One Health at the centre of contemporary risk, linking people, animals, plants, and the planet.
Standing With Science in a Staff-Scarce Health System: The Promise of AI
Image Source: Getty Images This essay is part of the series: World Health Day 2026: Standing with Science in an Age of Shared Risk World Health Day 2026 is framed by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a year-long campaign that promotes scientific collaboration as a precondition for credible policy and collective action. It positions public trust as a determinant of health outcomes, and places One Health at the centre of contemporary risk, linking people, animals, plants, and the planet.
The Long Afterlife of a Regulatory Failure: India, HPV, and Vaccine Hesitancy
India launched its nationwide HPV vaccination campaign on 28 February 2026, announced by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi, with Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda joining virtually. Given India’s high burden of cervical cancer, the nationwide rollout carried significant public health importance. It was also quietly remarkable for another reason, particularly for those who have followed this story closely.
The Long Afterlife of a Regulatory Failure: India, HPV, and Vaccine Hesitancy
India launched its nationwide HPV vaccination campaign on 28 February 2026, announced by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi, with Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda joining virtually. Given India’s high burden of cervical cancer, the nationwide rollout carried significant public health importance. It was also quietly remarkable for another reason, particularly for those who have followed this story closely.
Adult Immunisation: An Ambitious Beginning in Kerala
Image Source: Getty Images Kerala’s State Budget 2026–27 marked a modest but important beginning for adult immunisation in India. It set aside INR 50 crore for a pneumococcal vaccination programme that is explicitly designed for people aged 60 years and above from BPL families. It gives priority to those living with one or more comorbidities such as diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, cancers, and other immune-compromised conditions.
Adult Immunisation: An Ambitious Beginning in Kerala
Image Source: Getty Images Kerala’s State Budget 2026–27 marked a modest but important beginning for adult immunisation in India. It set aside INR 50 crore for a pneumococcal vaccination programme that is explicitly designed for people aged 60 years and above from BPL families. It gives priority to those living with one or more comorbidities such as diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, cancers, and other immune-compromised conditions.
Union Health Budget 2026: A Surprising Disconnect with the Economic Survey
Image Source: Getty Images Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget speech on 01 February opened with the announcement of Biopharma SHAKTI (Strategy for Healthcare Advancement through Knowledge, Technology and Innovation), an INR 10,000 crore government initiative designed to transform India into a premier global manufacturing hub for biologics and biosimilars over the next five years.
Union Health Budget 2026: A Surprising Disconnect with the Economic Survey
Image Source: Getty Images Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget speech on 01 February opened with the announcement of Biopharma SHAKTI (Strategy for Healthcare Advancement through Knowledge, Technology and Innovation), an INR 10,000 crore government initiative designed to transform India into a premier global manufacturing hub for biologics and biosimilars over the next five years.
India’s Health Insurance Boom and the Transparency Deficit
India’s health insurance sector is undergoing rapid expansion, and the latest (2024-25) Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) Annual Report shares some useful data on this explosive growth. Health is now the single largest segment within non-life insurance, contributing 41.42 percent of gross direct premiums in 2024–25.
India’s Health Insurance Boom and the Transparency Deficit
India’s health insurance sector is undergoing rapid expansion, and the latest (2024-25) Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) Annual Report shares some useful data on this explosive growth. Health is now the single largest segment within non-life insurance, contributing 41.42 percent of gross direct premiums in 2024–25.
Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam and the Paradox in India’s Tobacco Policy
The Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS-4) in 2019 found that, among the age group 13-15 years, the use of e-cigarettes was reported by 2.8 percent of the population in India. E-cigarettes were banned in India in the same year in an effort to protect the young generation from their harms, particularly as they function as a gateway to nicotine addiction and smoking.
Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam and the Paradox in India’s Tobacco Policy
The Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS-4) in 2019 found that, among the age group 13-15 years, the use of e-cigarettes was reported by 2.8 percent of the population in India. E-cigarettes were banned in India in the same year in an effort to protect the young generation from their harms, particularly as they function as a gateway to nicotine addiction and smoking.
Air Pollution: When ‘No Conclusive Data’ Becomes the Headline
Image Source: Getty Images Each winter, severe air pollution in North India raises the same institutional question: can the system describe the health risk clearly and respond consistently? Two Rajya Sabha questions answered on 18 December 2025 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), and discussed across the media, brought air pollution — an issue that affects daily life in large parts of the country — into public scrutiny.
Air Pollution: When ‘No Conclusive Data’ Becomes the Headline
Image Source: Getty Images Each winter, severe air pollution in North India raises the same institutional question: can the system describe the health risk clearly and respond consistently? Two Rajya Sabha questions answered on 18 December 2025 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), and discussed across the media, brought air pollution — an issue that affects daily life in large parts of the country — into public scrutiny.
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The Oliver Sacks LLM: Hallucinations of a Beautiful Mind
For decades, Oliver Sacks occupied a singular space in the public imagination as the compassionate face of neurology. He was the anti-clinician, the writer who rescued patients from the cold anonymity of medical charts and restored their depth, turning the case study into something closer to moral literature.
The Oliver Sacks LLM: Hallucinations of a Beautiful Mind
For decades, Oliver Sacks occupied a singular space in the public imagination as the compassionate face of neurology. He was the anti-clinician, the writer who rescued patients from the cold anonymity of medical charts and restored their depth, turning the case study into something closer to moral literature.
Beyond the Cap: Pathways to Reliable Funding for Rare Diseases in India
Oommen C. Kurian This report examines how India can move from ad-hoc responses to a more reliable system for financing high-cost therapies for rare diseases. It reviews the policy and financing architecture being built around the National Policy for Rare Diseases (2021), including Central support, state responsibilities, tax and duty relief, and the government’s crowdfunding portal. It finds that these elements still do not add up to a predictable pathway for either patients or clinicians.
Beyond the Cap: Pathways to Reliable Funding for Rare Diseases in India
Oommen C. Kurian This report examines how India can move from ad-hoc responses to a more reliable system for financing high-cost therapies for rare diseases. It reviews the policy and financing architecture being built around the National Policy for Rare Diseases (2021), including Central support, state responsibilities, tax and duty relief, and the government’s crowdfunding portal. It finds that these elements still do not add up to a predictable pathway for either patients or clinicians.
Health Financing in an Era of Eroding Global Health Solidarity
Image Source: Freepik A recent World Bank report, At a Crossroads: Prospects for Government Health Financing Amidst Declining Aid (At a Crossroads henceforth), appears at a moment when global health spending is under visible strain. It reveals a divergence that threatens to leave the world’s poorest populations behind.
Rare Diseases: Justice Delayed, Treatment Denied
On 7 November 2025, the Supreme Court took up the Union government’s appeal concerning the Delhi High Court’s rare-disease funding judgment and set the matter down for final hearing in March 2026. The Court did not issue any interim directions on financing. For families whose children have exhausted the INR 50 lakh ceiling at Centres of Excellence (CoE) under the National Policy for Rare Diseases (NPRD) 2021, the immediate effect is continuity of the status quo.
Rare Diseases: Justice Delayed, Treatment Denied
On 7 November 2025, the Supreme Court took up the Union government’s appeal concerning the Delhi High Court’s rare-disease funding judgment and set the matter down for final hearing in March 2026. The Court did not issue any interim directions on financing. For families whose children have exhausted the INR 50 lakh ceiling at Centres of Excellence (CoE) under the National Policy for Rare Diseases (NPRD) 2021, the immediate effect is continuity of the status quo.
Strengthening Health Diplomacy in the Global South: The Role of Think Tanks Original
Image Source: Getty Countries often engage in adversarial terms, but their health systems remain interdependent, even through long periods of hostility. Earlier this year, the United States unleashed new tariff measures on Indian imports. However, generic medicines were kept outside the scope of the new tariffs, possibly because Indian firms supply a large share of the low-cost generics used in the United States, which helps contain public health expenditure.
Universalising Senior Care through PMJAY: Ayushman Vay Vandana, One Year On
As the world marks the United Nations International Day of Older Persons on 1 October 2025, with the theme ‘Older Persons Driving Local and Global Action: Our Aspirations, Our Well-Being and Our Rights,’ India’s push to universalise the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) for those aged seventy and above reads as a concrete affirmation of these aspirations and rights. It places older citizens at the centre of health policy rather than at its margins.
Universalising Senior Care through PMJAY: Ayushman Vay Vandana, One Year On
As the world marks the United Nations International Day of Older Persons on 1 October 2025, with the theme ‘Older Persons Driving Local and Global Action: Our Aspirations, Our Well-Being and Our Rights,’ India’s push to universalise the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) for those aged seventy and above reads as a concrete affirmation of these aspirations and rights. It places older citizens at the centre of health policy rather than at its margins.
Editor's Pick | Books and Monographs 2025
Curated by Malancha Chakrabarty and Stelin Paul In a year shadowed by China's border provocations, AI-driven energy surges, and cascading global crises, ORF's books and monographs delivered unflinching foresight—arming readers with strategies for health resilience, youth diplomacy, sustainable tech, agile partnerships, and existential choices. From nearly 100 publications, these five captivated audiences with their urgency and depth.
India’s Leprosy Challenge: Slow Gains and Lingering Inequities
Image Source: Getty Images Leprosy has not disappeared globally, and India still accounts for the heaviest share of the burden. The World Health Organization’s (WHO) latest global update recorded nearly 182,815 newly detected cases worldwide. India reported 107,851 of these, a 59 percent share of the world’s new cases. Two decades earlier, the global tally stood much higher with 451,325 new cases in 2004. However, India’s share was even more dominant—over 81 percent, with 367,143 cases.
India’s Leprosy Challenge: Slow Gains and Lingering Inequities
India has managed to bring down the annual leprosy caseload over time, but marginalised communities still bear a disproportionate burden—revealing stark gaps beneath headline progress. Image Source: Getty Images Leprosy has not disappeared globally, and India still accounts for the heaviest share of the burden. The World Health Organization’s (WHO) latest global update recorded nearly 182,815 newly detected cases worldwide.
Need vs Reality: Why Government's Rare-Disease Portal Lags Behind
The government platform has the legitimacy to lead rare-disease funding, but without improving usability and engagement, it will struggle to compete with private platforms and gain public traction Image Source: Getty Images In June 2025, India witnessed a small miracle unfold online: a 16-month-old girl from West Bengal received Zolgensma, one of the world’s most expensive gene therapies, after her family raised INR 9 Cr through a private crowdfunding platform, with the help of 5.29 lakh...
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