Assess India's role in shaping global health partnerships, with reference to OneSCD.

At UNGA81, India co-hosted the launch of OneSCD, a global partnership on sickle cell care, alongside Nigeria, WHO, UNICEF and Africa CDC [1]. This marks India's shift from being an aid recipient to a norm-setter and solution-provider in global health — a role that is substantive, though not yet outcome-proven.

Strengths India brings to the partnership table

• Delivery at population scale: over 1.8 lakh Ayushman Arogya Mandirs, AB-PMJAY financial protection, 900 million health IDs and 497 million e-Sanjeevani teleconsultations offer a replicable low-cost template for the Global South [1].
• A credible financial-protection record: out-of-pocket expenditure fell from 62.6% to 39.4% of total health spending by 2021-22, with the government share rising to about 48% [2].
• Pharmaceutical leverage: India offers the world's lowest generic prices — tenofovir at about US$1.20 for 30 days and a 12-week hepatitis C cure from about US$40.40 — making it the price-setter for elimination programmes worldwide [3].

OneSCD as a case of partnership-shaping

• India contributes mass genetic screening experience — 7.29 crore screened and 4.93 crore Sickle Cell Cards issued under the 2023 Mission targeting elimination by 2047 [1].
• Partnering Nigeria and Africa CDC, both carrying heavy sickle cell burdens, gives the initiative a South-South, demand-driven character rather than a donor-recipient one.
• The Group of Friends of UHC platform lets India embed its continuum-of-care model in UN health discourse [1].

Limitations in the assessment

• India presents activity data, not outcomes — screening numbers, not cure rates or incidence decline [1].
• Domestic gaps weaken the model's export value: 1.80 lakh hepatitis screening points against only 1,039 treatment centres [1], while globally just 3% of hepatitis B patients receive treatment against an 80% target for 2030 [4].

India's convening power is real, but partnerships endure on demonstrated results. Publishing outcome and linkage-to-care data, and pairing generic manufacturing with technology transfer, would convert India's scale advantage into durable global health leadership consistent with SDG-3.