Modi First Indian PM to Prioritise Universal Health Coverage: The Lancet
New Delhi, Sept 14: A noted UK-based medical journal has said Narendra Modi is India’s first prime minister to prioritise universal health coverage (UHC) as part of his political platform under the ‘Ayushman Bharat’ scheme, even as it added that Congress chief Rahul Gandhi was “yet to match Modicare”.
Richard Horton, editor-in-chief of the The Lancet, said the prime minister has grasped the importance of health not only as a natural right of citizens, but also as a political instrument to meet the growing expectations of the emerging middle class of India, which is engulfed in a “swirling epidemic of non-communicable diseases”.
“Rahul Gandhi seeking to resurrect the Congress and prove that India’s greatest political dynasty still has something to offer, despite his promises to help lower castes, tribal communities and rural poor, is yet to match Modicare,” Horton said in an article published in the journal.
The Lancet editor-in-chief asserted that health will be a decisive issue in next year’s general election in the country.
With reference to five India-specific disease burden studies on non-communicable diseases published in The Lancet group of journals on Wednesday, Horton said, “as the BJP and Congress set out competing and contrasting visions for India’s future, health will rightly become a decisive issue in next year’s general election”.
Referring to Gandhi’s statement of “There is a full-blown crisis in India” at the London School of Economics last month, he said the Congress president was referring to a “job crisis”, but the five papers published across three Lancet specialty journals have revealed that there was also a “health crisis” in India.
“After years of neglect, the Indian government has at last recognised the perils of public discontent about health. Under a new initiative called Ayushman Bharat launched this year, Prime Minister Modi has implemented two new flagship programmes.
“Ayushman Bharat has two pillars – the creation of 1,50,000 health and wellness centres across the country to provide a spine of primary care facilities to deliver universal health coverage; and the National Health Protection Mission (NHPM), a health insurance aimed at providing coverage of Rs 5 lakh per family annually, thus benefiting more than 10 crore poor families,” said the article.
“Together, these twin programmes should improve access to quality health services and reduce out-of-pocket health expenditures,” it said.
Horton in the article said Modi’s stated goal is to build a new India by 2022.
“Rahul Gandhi has spoken about a ‘modernising impulse’ in India and the possibility of ‘a transformation of 1.3 billion people’. Modi has grasped the importance of health not only as a natural right for India’s citizens, but also as a political instrument to meet the growing expectations of India’s emerging middle class.
“Modi is the first Indian Prime Minister to prioritise universal health coverage as part of his political platform. Rahul Gandhi, despite his promises to help lower castes, tribal communities, and the rural poor, has yet to match Modicare,” the article said.
Horton said the five Lancet papers have also revealed a dangerously rapid epidemiological transition with Ischaemic heart disease being the leading individual cause of disease burden in India, while the contribution of cardiovascular diseases to total deaths has almost doubled since 1990.
“While India is engulfed in this swirling epidemic of non-communicable diseases, the country is also in the grip of a mental health emergency. India could claim 18% of the world’s population in 2016, yet it accounted for 37% of global suicide deaths among women and 24% among men,” the article added.
Courtesy: thewire.in
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3 Indians arrested in Canada for shooting outside home
Ottawa (PTI): Three Indian nationals have been arrested by Canadian police on an anti-extortion patrol and charged after bullets were fired at a home.
Harjot Singh (21), Taranveer Singh (19) and Dayajeet Singh Billing (21) face one count each of discharging a firearm, and all have been remanded in custody until Thursday, the Surrey Police Service (SPS) said in a statement on Monday.
The suspects were arrested by patrol officers after an early morning report of shots fired and a small fire outside a home in Surrey's Crescent Beach neighbourhood, the LakelandToday reported.
On February 1, 2026, the SPS members were patrolling in Surrey’s Crescent Beach neighbourhood when reports came in of shots being fired and a small fire outside a residence near Crescent Road and 132 Street.
The three accused were arrested by SPS officers a short time later, the statement said.
SPS’s Major Crime Section took over the investigation, and the three men have now been charged with Criminal Code offences, it said.
All three have been charged with one count each of discharging a firearm into a place contrary to section 244.2(1)(a) of the Criminal Code.
The investigation is ongoing, and additional charges may be forthcoming. All three have been remanded in custody until February 5, 2026.
The SPS has confirmed they are all foreign nationals and has engaged the Canada Border Services Agency, it said.
One of the suspects suffered injuries, including two black eyes, the media report said.
Surrey police Staff Sgt. Lindsey Houghton said on Monday that the suspect had refused to comply with instructions to get out of the ride-share vehicle and started to "actively resist."
"As we were trained, he was taken to the ground and safely handcuffed," said Houghton.
A second suspect with a black eye was also injured in the arrest after refusing to comply, Houghton said.
The arresting officers were part of Project Assurance, an initiative that patrols neighbourhoods that have been targeted by extortion violence.
Houghton said the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) is also involved because the men are foreign nationals, and the trio may face additional charges.
It's not clear if the men are in the country on tourist visas, a study permit, or a work permit, but Houghton said CBSA has started its own investigation into the men's status.
Surrey has seen a number of shootings at homes and businesses over the last several months, but there's been an escalation since the new year.
