Designing primary healthcare systems for future in India

Changing epidemiology, rapid urbanization, and rising expectations of populations are creating new challenges and opportunities for India's primary healthcare system. A group of primary care experts, practitioners, and researchers got together to design key elements of primary healthcare models for the future that would address these challenges and make use of emergent opportunities in rural and urban India. Based on experiences and evidence from India and across the globe shared in the consultation, the article lays out a vision and components of India's primary healthcare for future. It provides answers to questions such as how will healthcare be financed and organized, what mechanisms will assure quality of services, who will provide primary healthcare, and what role will technology have. Finally, it provides an agenda for primary healthcare practitioners and researchers to translate this vision into action.