Anuska Kalita, ’25
From: Assam, India/Boston, MA
Degrees Held: MA, Tata Institute of Social Sciences
BA, University of Delhi, India
Email: akalita@hsph.harvard.edu
Anuska is pursuing a Doctorate in Public Health (DrPH) at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She has worked in the health sector for 16 years in India and other countries in South Asia, in a variety of roles ranging from research and implementation to grant-making and policy with organizations like the Gates Foundation and The World Bank. For the last five years, Anuska has been a Visiting Scientist and India Health Systems Specialist at Harvard, working on health systems and policy research, and has been at the forefront of a first-of-its-kind comprehensive health system assessment in India.
Anuska has been involved in designing some landmark health policies, most notably India’s nationwide ASHA Program, one of the world’s largest community health worker programs. She was also involved in India’s National Health Policy (2017) formulation, where she participated in the Ministry of Health’s Task Force on Primary Health and in the Expert Committee for Developing Mid-Level Health Personnel which led to the groundbreaking recognition and training of non-physician personnel as primary care providers.
Anuska is deeply invested in capacity-strengthening initiatives, including the Flagship Course for Health System Strengthening and Sustainable Financing with Harvard and The World Bank for senior policymakers, a course on using research for policy for government officials in Bhutan, and has led the development of a Course on Health System Assessment for researchers and practitioners in India. She contributed to the founding and development of institutions, including state-level technical resource centers in India, and a network of public health practitioners, and has contributed to the health system design strategy at the Gates Foundation. In addition, she has served as a Director on the boards of a primary healthcare delivery organization and an early-stage venture capital fund.
Following her DrPH, Anuska wants to advance health-system thinking in global health institutions by working with diverse stakeholders and leading evidence-based solutions that leverage interconnections among different aspects of the health sector.
Student News and Publications
October 2023
rivate pharmacies as healthcare providers in Odisha, India: analysis and implications for universal health coverage.
Kalita A., Carton-Rossen N., Joseph L., Chhetri D. and Patel, V., 2023. The Barriers to Universal Health Coverage in India and the Strategies to Address Them: A Key Informant Study. Annals of Global Health, 89(1), p.69.
August 2023
Reich MR., Campos PA., Kalita A., Guyer A., & Yip, W. 2023. A Guide to Health Reform: Eight Practical Steps. Boston, USA: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
This Guide provides practical step-by-step guidance and key actions for readers on navigating the fundamental challenges of designing and implementing health reforms. It is intended for health reformers – government officials, policymakers, analysts, advisors, and advocates – roles that Harvard DrPHers often choose in their careers.
June 2023
Kalita, A. & Croke, K. (2023). The Politics of Health Policy Agenda Setting in India: The Case of the PMJAY Program. Health Systems & Reform.
May 2023
Anuska Kalita, DrPH ’25, discussed health system reforms to achieve Universal Health Coverage, as a co-panelist with Profs. Vikram Patel (Harvard Medical School), Tarun Khanna (Harvard Business School), and Atul Gupta (Wharton) at the Harvard South Asia Institute‘s Annual Symposium. The discussion presented their collaborative work on the Lancet Commission on India.
September 2022
Anuska Kalita, DrPH ’25, was appointed as a Fellow to The Lancet Commission on India’s Health System and was recently interviewed by The Lancet Commission.
August 2022
Haakenstad, A., Kalita, A, Bose, B., Cooper, J., Yip, W. (2022) Catastrophic health expenditure on private sector pharmaceuticals: a cross-sectional analysis from the state of Odisha, India, Health Policy and Planning, Volume 37, Issue 7, August 2022, Pages 872–884, https://doi.org/10.1093/heapol/czac035
