Dr Reddy, President of PHFI, is a member of a High Level Expert Group which has the task of developing a national consensus on key elements of universal health coverage and to integrate these in the 12th Five year plan. The Norwegian funded programme will supplement this process.
The 12th Five Year Plan is scheduled to be submitted by the Planning Commission in 2012. In order to gain inputs on Universal Health Coverage a High level Expert Group (HLEG) on was constituted in October 2010. The secretariat for HLEG is led by the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI). In December 2012 PHFI will submit its review of experiences about India’s Health Sector and suggest 10-year strategy going forward.
The funding is complementary of the Norway India Partnership Initiative (NIPI), an agreement between the Norwegian government and government of India, with the goal of collaboration toward the reduction of child mortality in India. The Partnership effort is focused in 5 states of India, namely, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Orissa with a total population of about 500 million. These states together contribute almost 60 percent of country’s infant deaths.