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In 2020 editor-in-chief (Andrew Malekoff) issued a special call for papers for group work stories on pandemic 2020. Among the 28 stories accepted for the series there were 16 from India, 9 from the United States, 2 from Canada and 1 from Israel. General submissions from the U.S., Canada and Israel were typical for the journal. Atypical are submissions from India. Rather than publish the stories in one special issue of the Journal, he decided to spread them out over several issues through 2022. In the course of organizing the special series (with a December 2021 deadline) he continued communication with a few of the authors from India, with particular interest and concern in the deteriorating situation as 2021 unfolded. Although the present commentary is not about group work per se, it is an update by Ajay Saini, Nancy and Andrew Malekoff on the current state of affairs in India, with some contrast to the situation in the U.S., that offers continuing context for the stories in the series. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The non-governmental but not-for-profit sector seems to bridge the gap apparent in a shortage of government resources and unaffordable for-profit services in the healthcare market of India. Based on a background study about the non-governmental organisation for official health accounts, it was found to be imperative, especially in providing preventive and promotive healthcare services. To the current health expenditure of the country, this sector contributes around 2.1%, with funds generated largely as grants from governments and foreign sources. Indeed, financial contribution is not as imperative as the ability to reach grassroots for providing healthcare, which should be considered as an opportunity to augment the capacity of the health system, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]