Health is a FUNDAMENTAL right but actually is NOT even FUNDAMENTALLY right in India
How ironic is this? How the Supreme court has held healthcare to be of utmost importance under Article 21 of the Constitution but it has been proven that “historical public spending” of over a percent of the GDP healthcare has gone ahead and safeguarded that the nation’s healthcare remains under-served and ONLY for the private sector to service! What a indignity to primary healthcare!!
Doctors, healthcare companies, private sector players, etc.; are all out at attracting a steady stream of investments; but who is benefiting and how?
It is among the cheapest in the world, yet unaffordable for most locally.
One of the biggest questions we need to ask ourselves, especially in current times is whether we are healthy and how ‘mathematically’ true this is. Healthcare has intrigued the scientific, social and economic intellect right since time immemorial, but what has changed?
Are we being misled to believe that we are suffering from health problems when we actually don’t?
India’s healthcare and treatment costs are divided into public and private healthcare costs. As per the National Family Health Survey it is the private medical sector, which is the primary source of healthcare for 70% of households in urban areas and 63% of households in rural areas.
In fact, being healthy can mean different things to different people and while a universal application means, “eating healthy”; it also means feeling fit, strong and even confident. It refers to being realistic, doing what works for you having good nutrition that is combined with physical activity.
It also includes having a complete mental, social and physical well being; not JUST the absence of infirmity or disease. It also means being able to cope with stress and fight illness. So, that you prevent heart conditions such as heart disease, strokes or high blood pressure. Obviously to promote such a lifestyle meals should never be skipped and minimising or completely avoiding fast food.
This sector attracts investments, but delivery remains contentious.
There are approximately 1.4 million doctors in this over-populated country but India has not been able to even reach its Millennium Development Goals that are related to health. In fact India stands at a crossroad with the Government which rolls out the biggest publicity funded healthcare plan in the “world” and clamps down on prices of prices of medical devices, as global investments pour into tertiary care. So, what are these paradoxes’ we talk about?
When there are millions of Indians who have a per-capita-income of less than $4 a day, how can we even exepct them to even afford buying this procedure in India? A kneee replacement treatment is over 20% more in the US and double in Mayasia when compare to India.
India has one of the world’s highest rates of out-of the-pocket spending in healthcare. Even the Ayushman Bharat national health protection programme proposes to correct the situation, but since the time of its rollout there have been many issues that have cropped up akin to that of GST.
How is medical tourism booming, when there is LESS then one doctor for 1,000 patient?
It’s a well-known fact that India is an over-populated nation, but at the same time is is suffering from a myriad a problems such as poverty. Illiteracy, famale infanticide, sexual harassment at workplace, rape, dowry & bride burning, disparity in education, child marriages, inadequate nutrition, social inequality, healthcare system, pollution, infrastructure; and the list is quite qndless.
Hospitals, everywhere are overburdened; under-staffed and ill-quipped and you know what-
The ironic part is that this has not even prevented the private healthcare system to even establish sophicated medical tourism facilities for the world class services at a low class price!!!IN 2016, India had even treated treated approximately 3.6 lakh foreign parients and the medical tourism market is expected to expand and grow by $ 7-$8 by 2020!!!
Stark divergence in healthcare outcomes within country.
Is healthcare really of such PRIME importance in India when just last year, over 60 children have died in five days at a hospital in eastern India? Could this have been avoided? How would YOU feel, being a parent as you saw your newborn struggle to breath and NOT be able to do anything? North India is one of the most populated parts of India and has one of the most UNDESERVED healthcare infrastructures in the country. Outcry over deaths of children in Gorakhpur hospital @AJENews http://aje.io/3g7s4
As,IVF specialist and angel investor who believes in Information Therapy Specialties: IVF. Angel Investing – Dr. Aniruddha Malpani has so rightly pointed out in his article in FirstPost, ‘Why most health checkups are a scam meant to convert healthy people into patients’ his messege is loud and clear – “The equation is simple: Abnormality = more tests = more consultations = more treatment, much of which is unnecessary.”
Dr Aniruddha Malpani is a leading IVF specialist
https://www.firstpost.com/living/why-most-health-checkups-are-a-scam-meant-to-convert-healthy-people-into-patients-2938148.html
Dr Aniruddha Malpani, MD Medical Director HELP – Health Education Library for People Ashish Bldg Tardeo end of Bombay Central bridge Mumbai 400 034 India www.healthlibrary.com
So, we would love to hear your views… do you think health check ups are a scam or a method to convert ‘YOU’ healthy folk into patients?
