Around 600 participants from 23 states gathered in Delhi on 11–12 December for the National Convention on Health Rights, organised by Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA). The convention commemorated 25 years of JSA’s sustained engagement with health policy, public health systems, and the defence of people’s health rights. JSA is a national platform comprising 22 networks and several hundred organisations and groups working across India.

The convention adopted a strong resolution calling for a legally enforceable Right to Health, an immediate halt to the privatisation of public health services, and a significant expansion of accessible, affordable, and quality public healthcare across the country.

Eight thematic sessions were held, focusing on strengthening public health systems and the right to health; health financing and insurance; resistance to privatisation and public–private partnerships (PPPs); gender and social justice in health; access to medicines; the rights of health workers; regulation of the private health sector; and the social determinants of health. The deliberations will help shape JSA’s campaigns and priorities in the years ahead.

Resisting privatisation, moving beyond commercial “schemes”

The opening plenary featured six speakers from diverse backgrounds, including public health experts, trade union representatives, and leaders of social movements. Madhumita Banerjee of the ASHA Workers’ Federation highlighted the growing gap between improvements in health indicators and the harsh working conditions of frontline health workers.
“The entire National Health Mission depends on ASHAs, yet most earn barely ₹75 a day,” she said. “We work 10–12 hours, at any time of day or night, without basic facilities such as toilets, seating space, maternity leave, or safety equipment during crises like COVID-19. ASHAs have helped reduce maternal and neonatal deaths, but our own lives have not improved. We must fight for a dignified life for ASHA workers.”

Professor Jean Drèze, addressing the convention, urged JSA and allied movements to mobilise young people, widen public debate on health, strengthen engagement with the media, and develop a draft framework for a Right to Healthcare Act, with mental health recognised as a core component.

The plenary discussions underlined major barriers to healthcare access and highlighted widespread public resistance to health-sector privatisation in several states. Movements opposing hospital corporatisation and PPPs pointed to reduced free care, declining service quality, and weakened accountability. The experience of Ranchi demonstrated that sustained mobilisation can successfully halt privatisation. Discussions on health financing challenged insurance-driven schemes such as PM-JAY, emphasising the need to redirect public funds from private hospitals towards strengthening public health services.

Strengthening public services, ensuring justice for health workers

Sessions on public health stressed the importance of well-funded, decentralised systems, a strengthened National Health Mission, and an enforceable Right to Healthcare, drawing on experiences from multiple states. Justice for health workers was a central concern, with participants highlighting unsafe working environments, excessive workloads, low pay, and job insecurity across cadres.

A Health Workers’ Charter was presented, calling for secure employment, fair wages, safe and dignified workplaces, and reasonable workloads. Participants emphasised that a resilient public health system depends on valuing and protecting its workforce.

Regulating private healthcare and ensuring access to medicines

Discussions on regulating private hospitals exposed widespread violations of patient rights and weak enforcement of existing laws, often driven by commercial lobbying. Activists highlighted successful citizen interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing efforts, including a Public Interest Litigation in the Supreme Court, to enforce rate regulation, transparency, and grievance redressal mechanisms.

Sessions on access to medicines focused on unaffordable drug prices due to limited price controls. Participants showcased effective free-drug programmes and called for universal access to essential medicines, stronger regulation, and a people-centred pharmaceutical policy.

Addressing discrimination and social determinants of health

Discussions on gender and social justice highlighted pervasive discrimination in healthcare against women, LGBTQ+ persons, religious and caste minorities, persons with disabilities, and older people. Participants noted persistent neglect of informed consent and the specific health needs of marginalised groups.

Sessions on the social determinants of health examined food security, nutrition, climate change, pollution, water and sanitation, and disasters as key drivers of health inequities. Participants stressed the need to address these interconnected crises through inclusive, rights-based, and comprehensive public systems.

Political engagement and collective commitment

A major highlight of the convention was a cross-party dialogue with six Members of Parliament, during which JSA presented a 10-point blueprint for transforming India’s health system. The plan calls for a legally enforceable right to healthcare, substantial increases in public health funding, strengthened public services, justice and dignity for health workers, and an end to privatisation. It also emphasises regulating private healthcare, ensuring free and affordable medicines, moving away from commercial insurance towards public-centred universal care, and integrating food security, environmental health, and climate justice into health planning.

The MPs responded positively to these demands, and supportive messages from Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge were shared, reflecting strong political endorsement of the health rights agenda.

A distinctive moment in the concluding plenary brought together activists who had participated in the first People’s Health Assembly in 2000 and were also present at this convention, symbolising 25 years of sustained commitment to the people’s health movement. These JSA veterans, alongside young activists, released Global Health Watch 7. This was followed by the reading and unanimous adoption of the People’s Resolution emerging from the convention, in the presence of representatives from all JSA constituent national networks and resource organisations.

Delegations represented a wide cross-section of the country, including Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal.

Alongside policy discussions, the two-day convention featured vibrant cultural programmes, including songs, performances, and street plays by groups such as Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti (BGVS), the Delhi Young Artists’ Forum (DYAF), and Himachal Gyan Vigyan Samiti (HGVS). Through music and theatre, these performances depicted people’s experiences of illness, denial of care, youth struggles against drug abuse, and collective resistance. Participants also viewed the trailer of The White Truth, a web series created by young cultural activists from Himachal Pradesh involved in anti–drug abuse campaigns, which generated considerable enthusiasm.

Notably, the entire convention was organised through collective effort, large-scale voluntary donations, and modest contributions from member organisations, without any institutional funding. Most participants travelled using personal resources or support from their organisations or state units. The convention not only marked a significant milestone in celebrating 25 years of the People’s Health Movement in India, but also charted a clear direction for future struggles to realise health as a fundamental right for all.