Health policy for the coming year

The priority for health policy is now a decentralised process for testing and engaging with private health care

While the lockdowns are easing, the pandemic is not. How should health policy play for the coming year? In public health, the key gap is the population-scale measurement, which will generate better private decisions, and also help the decentralised process of evolving social distancing rules. A large expansion of health care capacity is prudent. This requires a wise engagement with private health care firms, which are under great stress today.

India started out in late March with what has been described as the world's most comprehensive lockdown. From mid-April, a pragmatic process of easing restrictions has begun. The employment rate, which