As The Lancet marked its 200th birthday on October 5 with a special issue, Dr K Srinath Reddy, distinguished professor at the Public Health Foundation of India, said the publication has transitioned in recent decades from being a respected but staid scientific journal to becoming an articulate crusader of causes along with other high-quality research publications.
From maternal and child health to non-communicable diseases and mental health, its evidence-informed advocacy has had a strong policy-shaping role, Dr Reddy told The Indian Express. “I found its espousal of causes close to my heart, from tobacco control to universal health coverage, especially helpful for advocacy,” he said.
Many Lancet commissions have examined a wide array of contemporary priorities in global health–from childhood obesity to mental health and digital health to cancer care. During Covid too, many publications presented emerging evidence on epidemiology, diagnostics and therapeutics and The Lancet remains a highly trusted and very influential medical journal today, despite some controversies, Dr Reddy said. “It has changed with the times but is also changing the times,” he added.
“The Lancet’s country series have provided a more granular view of country-specific challenges in public health, providing countries with evidence and guidance on policy measures needed to effect change and improve health outcomes. For instance, the series on India identified the gaps in treatments, human resources and infrastructure which needed to be covered on the path to universal health care,” say Sania Nishtar, senator and former special assistant to the prime minister of Pakistan, along with Dr Reddy and others in their report “The Lancet’s Enduring Legacy: Speaking Truth to Power”.
Dr Vikram Patel, Paul Farmer Professor and Chair at the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine of Harvard Medical School, said that The Lancet had played an outsize role in highlighting critical and neglected issues in global health, not least of which is mental health.
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In just the past five years, The Lancet has published reports of three major commissions related to mental health that have enhanced the place of mental health in global and national policy. “We hope that a similar impact will be evident through the publication of the Lancet Citizens Commission on Reimagining India’s healthcare system, which is currently in preparation,” Dr Patel told The Indian Express.
In the special issue, Kumsal Bayazit, chief executive officer of Elsevier, the publisher of The Lancet, said, “During the past 200 years, average life expectancy has more than doubled globally, partly thanks to better health care, hygiene and nutrition—all of which are underpinned by scientific, technological, and economic progress. 200 years ago, about 40% of children worldwide perished before the age of 5 years; today, the under-5 child mortality rate is below 4%. Many diseases that were previously fatal are now curable or manageable conditions thanks to antibiotics, vaccines, targeted medicines, immunotherapies, and surgical advances, among others.
“The timeline shows some of the seminal moments behind these developments in the pages of The Lancet over the decades. We are at the precipice of another pivotal moment for the world, tested by several grand challenges. As the Lancet countdown on climate change calls out, this existential crisis is a global health issue.”
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First published on: 06-10-2023 at 15:56 IST
