Originally envisioned to offer preventive, promotive, curative and rehabilitative services as per the needs of people at affordable costs, the health services in India are currently grappling with varied forms of fragmentation, at the macro-level institutions as well as at the level of primary healthcare. To arrest this crisis, it is necessary to revive referral services needed for primary-level curative care, by focusing on strengthening community health centres and developing a strong public health workforce at the grassroots level. The only way forward is to strengthen institutions of primary healthcare by effectively balancing people’s public health with their curative care needs.
