During political debates in print and television media we often come across hue and cry raised over corruption and development but healthcare is something that is constantly missing or simply ignored.
In a country where weather related diseases, rising air pollution, availability of safe drinking water and sanitation are an issue, more than 5 million children of less than 5 years of age die every year. Another half a million die within a month after coming into this world. According to estimates by UNICEF less than 45 per cent of the India’s population has access to safe drinking water.
Recently Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, while addressing the 11th Kolkata Group workshop, organised by Pratichi (India) Trust, Harvard Global Equity Initiative and UNICEF India, said that India's health sector is in a dismal condition. He also cautioned against over-reliance on the private health sector in a country where basic health services are minimal. He believes that this situation is causing exploitation of vulnerable and under-privileged patients.
More so because health care is not supported by economic growth but it is vice versa and India has been following commercial principles in this sector very strictly. Health experts, policy makers and activists believe that private healthcare should exist but not at the cost of public healthcare. For the matter of fact, no country around the globe could bring a drastic health care transition without the help of its government.
The need of the hour seems to be financial allocations which are inadequate at present. Primary health care should also be integrated with specialised services for substantial reforms. India could very well take inspiration from developed nations as well as other Asian countries like Thailand, China and Bangladesh.
Indian health sector vs the world
Unlike in developed countries (with an exception of United States of America), India’s healthcare sector is dominated by private players with a ratio of 80:20 in favour of the later. The industry is expected to be around 170 billion dollars in another 5-6 years. India spends only 4.1 per cent of the GDP on healthcare while 9.1 per cent is the worldwide average. Considering this void, there is a lot of potential for healthcare spending in India and with summer speedily approaching, we hope the new government pays heed to issue.
picture courtesy- New Zealand Medical Student's Association
