Transparent national pricing policy: Lancet makes 8 recommendations to beat possible 3rd COVID-19 wave

New Delhi, June 18: Amidst talks of a third wave the Lancet Medical Journal has listed urgent action that must be taken to tackle COVID-19. The issue dated June 12 was authored by Biocon chief, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw and 11 others.

The journal made 8 recommendations to help fight a possible third wave of COVID-19.

How to fight the third wave of COVID-19: Lancet's recommendations

Community engagement and public participation must lie at the heart of India's Covid-19 response. We recommend active collaboration between government and civil society organisations to create and disseminate accurate information, enabling home-based care, emphasising prevention, helping navigate access to live-saving treatment, and promoting vaccination.

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.

The profound suffering and risk to health caused by loss of livelihoods should be minimised by making provisions for cash transfers by the state to workers in India's vast informal economy who have lost their jobs, as is being done by some state governments.

The organisation of essential health services must be decentralised. A one-size-fits-all approach is untenable since the numbers of Covid-19 cases and health services differ substantially from district to district.

The profound suffering and risk to health caused by loss of livelihoods should be minimised by making provisions for cash transfers by the state to workers in India's vast informal economy who have lost their jobs, as is being done by some state governments.

There must be a transparent national pricing policy and caps on the prices of all essential health services- for example, ambulances, oxygen, essential medicines, and hospital care. Hospital care should not require any out-of-pocket expenditure and costs should be covered by existing health Centre.

Clear, evidence-based information on the management of Covid-19 must be more widely disseminated and implemented. This information should include suitably adapted international guidelines for home care and treatment, primary care, and care in local languages that incorporate local circumstances and clinical practice.

There must be transparency in government data collection and modelling to enable districts to proactively prepare for the likely caseloads in the coming weeks.

Central systems to procure and distribute Covid-19 vaccines free of cost should be established in a departure from the current policy of decentralised procurement through state governments.