The public health sector in India, dogged with issues such as low healthcare spend, manpower shortage, corruption and crumbling infrastructure, has always been under the scanner for the credibility of services being offered. India is among the lowest ranked countries in terms of its spend on healthcare with the WHO study of 2007-08 ranking India 171 out of 175 countries in the world in public health spending.

While the public sector spends only about 0.9 percent of the total GDP on healthcare, depicting a contrasting picture, the private sector’s spend exceeds 4 percent.In an attempt to strengthen the public health system, the World Bank started funding various state health systems projects in India, since 1996. Aimed at improving efficiency and quality of services and enhancing access to ensure equitable services for the disadvantaged people, the World Bank has been actively involved with the public health sector in 10 Indian states. In this issue, eHEALTH brings you a comprehensive report of one of these projects, the Tamil Nadu Health Systems Project (TNHSP), that was initiated in 2005 and is  running successfully since its inception.

The insightful report brings forth the success of the TNHSP in strengthening its public health sector through various interventions, in contrast to most of the other Indian states. Considering that Tamil Nadu is among the best ranked states in terms of public health, the report shares best practices under various health systems programmes initiated by the state.Also find in this issue, a report on India’s first industry-acaedemic partnership in the medical technology space with Trivitron and IIT Madras coming together to create a centre of excellence for designing and developing medical technology products. Putting India on the future road map for medical technology innovations, the development of the Trivitron Innovation Centre at IIT has taken the country one step closer to its dream of becoming a hub for home grown R&D and manufacturing centre.

Going further, we are pleased to inform you that the 6th edition of eINDIA, India’s largest ICT event, will be held this year in Hyderabad during 4-6 August 2010. Being organised in association with, the Department of IT, Ministry of Communications and IT, Government of India; the Unique Identification Authority of India, Government of India; Directorate General of Employment and Training, Ministry of Labour & Employment, Government of India; and National e-Governance Plan; the event will once again bring together key stakeholders from various ICT domains to share knowledge on a unique platform. Read this issue to get more information on the event!