The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent an exponential advance from the Millennium Development Goals, with a substantially broader agenda affecting all nations and requiring coordinated global actions.

On February 1, 2016, the World Health Organization declared that the cluster of microcephaly cases and other neurological disorders constitute public health emergency of international concern. Furthermore, few studies demonstrated that there was an increased evidence of causal relationship of Zika virus (ZIKAV) infection and microcep

Human capital is recognised as the level of education and health in a population and is considered an important determinant of economic growth. The World Bank has called for measurement and annual reporting of human capital to track and motivate investments in health and education and enhance productivity.

The morbidity and socioeconomic effects of onchocerciasis, a parasitic disease that is primarily endemic in sub-Saharan Africa, have motivated large morbidity and transmission control programmes. Annual communitydirected ivermectin treatment has substantially reduced prevalence.

In 2008, WHO launched the final report of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH) that concluded “social injustice is killing people on a grand scale”.

Given the scale of unmet need and the constraints of India’s low government budgets, it will be essential that India’s universal health coverage (UHC) strategy is efficient and equitable. India must invest heavily in primary health care (PHC) services, where health returns are greatest.