Introduction

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) definition of good health encompasses not only the absence of disease but also the effervescence of well-being. According to a WHO and World Bank Report (World Health Organization, & International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank, 2017), more than 50% of the world’s population, that is, more than 8 billion people, do not have access to essential health services. Besides, an estimated world’s 800 million poor (which include 90 million Indians) spend at least 10% of their household budgets on healthcare for themselves or their families. With the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015 (United Nations Development Programme, 2015), the UN member states unanimously agreed to make affordable healthcare one of the core ‘development goals’ with clear deadlines to assess progress in implementation outputs and resultant health outcomes.

The demand for affordable healthcare snowballed globally through civil society activism from the early years of the 21st century, and different governments tried to reach a domestic consensus over inclusion of target 3.8 of the UN SDG’s call on all countries to ‘achieve universal health coverage’ through financial risk protection, and access to safe, effective and quality and affordable health services which includes essential medicines and vaccines for all by 2030. more...