LUCKNOW Uttar Pradesh has taken a significant step towards overhauling its healthcare governance by initiating the creation of a dedicated state-level health policy and research think tank that will guide reforms, improve decision-making and strengthen healthcare delivery. Senior bureaucrats, policymakers, public health experts and academicians on Thursday came together in Lucknow to prepare a five-year strategic roadmap for the proposed State Health Systems Resource Centre – Uttar Pradesh (SHSRC-UP), envisioned as the state’s premier technical institution for evidence-based health policymaking.
Event Context
The roadmap is being prepared during a two-day roundtable organised by the department of hospital administration, SGPGIMS, in collaboration with the State Transformation Commission. The first day’s deliberations, held under the theme ‘Aarogya Manthan – Benchmarking Health, Mapping Progress: Uttar Pradesh’, focused on identifying systemic gaps and developing long-term solutions that can make UP’s health system more resilient, efficient and people-centric.
Player Focus
Experts from leading institutions, including IIM-Lucknow, Johns Hopkins University, ICMR, WHO, Unicef, NABH and the ministry of health and family welfare, contributed recommendations for the strategic roadmap. They stressed that stronger collaboration among government departments, academic institutions, development partners and civil society would be crucial for achieving universal health coverage and improving health outcomes across UP.
Delivering the keynote address, Manoj Kumar Singh, chief executive officer of the State Transformation Commission and chairman of SHSRC-UP, said the proposed centre would serve as Uttar Pradesh’s technical bridge between policy, research and implementation. Additional chief secretary Amit Kumar Ghosh emphasised governance reforms, accountability and quality improvement as the pillars of healthcare transformation, while NHM mission director Dr Pinky Jowel stressed the need for convergence across health programmes and data-driven planning. SGPGIMS director Prof RK Dhiman underlined the importance of sustained collaboration between government, academia and technical institutions.
Rather than limiting discussions to existing challenges, experts adopted a solution-oriented approach using SWOC analysis, gap analysis and evidence-based policy discussions to identify practical and scalable interventions. Key focus areas included tackling the rising burden of non-communicable diseases, strengthening preventive healthcare, improving disease surveillance, building integrated care pathways and accelerating digital transformation of the health sector through interoperable health information systems, better data governance and real-time decision support.
Patient safety, hospital accreditation, clinical governance, quality assurance, workforce planning and capacity building also figured prominently in the discussions.
Match Outlook
The recommendations emerging from the two-day conclave will shape the institutional framework and implementation strategy for SHSRC-UP, which is expected to become a long-term catalyst for evidence-based policymaking, innovation, health system strengthening and improved healthcare delivery across UP.
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A special experience-sharing session brought together representatives from the National Health Systems Resource Centre and State Health Systems Resource Centres of Haryana, Gujarat, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The experts shared successful models of institutional development, digital health integration, human resource management, financing and evidence-based governance, offering valuable lessons that can be adapted to UP’s unique demographic and administrative landscape.
