CBCI Office for Health Care was established in 1989 by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India to function as the coordinating body of all the health related organisations of the Church in India. This Office is the forum for discussing various vital issues of national importance related to health and for planning common action. The office is to inspire and guide all the health related organizations according to the spirit of the Catholic teaching, practice and tradition (Report of the CBCI General Body Meeting, Pune, 1992.)

Having received the mandate from Jesus Christ, the Divine Healer, to ensure life in its fullness, and inspired by his compassionate love, the Catholic Church in India envisages a healthy society where people, especially the poor and marginalised, attain and maintain holistic well-being and live in harmony with the Creator, with self, with one another and with the environment.

• To provide humanizing care considering the dignity of the person and the needs of society.
• To ensure promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative health care to all, particularly to the poor and the marginalized through their empowerment.
• To engage in social mobilization of the community by creating awareness on rights, duties and responsibilities related to health issues.

• To make quality health services available, affordable and accessible to all, especially in the underserved areas.
• To empower people to plan for their health and health care needs and access their health care rights.
• To cooperate and collaborate with the government and other agencies to make health care accessible for all, in accordance with the teachings of the Church.
• To observe all ethical norms according to the teachings of the Church, professional bodies and just laws of the country.
• To show compassion for all, serve preferentially the poor, the vulnerable and the marginalised.
• To practice and transmit the Christian vision of care, in a world of commercialised health care.
• To facilitate spiritual assistance to everyone we serve, according to their faith, so that the experience of sickness and healing can be transformed into one of personal growth and development.
• To promote health education, training and research
• To encourage multi-dimensional programmes on promotion of health and prevention of diseases in communities.

The Health Policy of the Catholic Church in India is guided by the teachings of the Gospel, the Magisterium of the Church and the Charter for Healthcare Workers. The principles that guide the involvement of the Church in health and health care are as follows:

• Keeping in mind the holistic development of the person, in the involvement of the Church in health and health care, the community health model will be given priority.
• The interventions of the Church will be guided by Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, that says that all have the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and wellbeing of themselves and their families.
• The Church will be committed in its actions to provide access to health and health care facilities and services in areas that lack adequate health care facilities.
• There shall be no discrimination on the basis of age, sex, creed, class, caste, tribe, religion or other socio-economic, political and cultural realities in the delivery of services and facilities.
• The policy is guided by the teachings of the Church to serve the poorest of the poor. Special emphasis will be given to disadvantaged groups like tribals, dalits, migrants, refugees and the differently-abled.
• The decision-making in prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation will be according to the teaching of the Church, ethically correct and will be based on complete and accurate technical information.
• Evidence-based medicine will be practiced in health care including the use of rational therapeutics.