World Health Day: A gastroenterologist list down 7-pointers that can help to improve healthcare facilities in India
World Health Day: A gastroenterologist list down 7-pointers that can help to improve healthcare facilities in India
Dr Roy Patankar, leading Gastroenterologist and Director of Zen Hospital says what policies the government/medical fraternity should incorporate to improve healthcare facilities in India.
Written By: Debjani Arora | Published : April 7, 2018 4:57 PM IST
Today is World Health Day and the theme for this year is Universal Health Coverage: everyone, everywhere. But a closer look at home and we know that India's public health care system is in tatters. Of course, steps are taken to address the problems in multiple levels. Recently the government has announced its ambitious plan to eradicate tuberculosis by the year 2025. Apart from tuberculosis, there are other communicable and non-communicable diseases that also need immediate attention to lessen the burden of public health menace in our country.
We spoke to Dr Roy Patankar, leading Gastroenterologist and Director of Zen Hospital what policies the government/medical fraternity should incorporate to improve healthcare facilities in India?
Before making policies, we need to understand what major problems our healthcare system is facing. As we understand, India is broadly divided in urban India and rural India. More than 75 percent population is surviving in rural India but lacks in medical facilities and hence they are turned towards major cities for healthcare services. This wide gap in our current major problem as with very low GDP expenditure on healthcare in India, a major part of this expenditure is utilised in urban parts, leaving very minimal or nothing for rural parts where the population is massive. In private sector, rural places suffer as they have no investors due to not so profitable rural India and most of the investors target urban parts of India.
Another major issue is the burden of payment of individuals as the majority of people seek treatment from private institutions where they have to pay from appointment till the last date of treatment and most of them are not covered b any insurance, hence most end up paying from their pockets. This is a reason why few people from the rural sectors seek health check-ups and why even preventable diseases go undetected until they have reached a dangerous point.
Improve basic primary healthcare infrastructure to prevent various illnesses like TB, Malaria, Dengue, HIV etc. Most of the new doctors do not go to rural parts due to poor infrastructure and other financial issues. Along with infrastructure, very low number of nurses and doctors per lack population is also a major concern.
Malnutrition among young mothers and newborns is another major concern for the country. As we can observe ASHAs (accredited social health activists) are doing a great job in most of rural India in increasing awareness. We should encourage youth and give them some incentives to become part of ASHA programme.
Designing plan to increase the number of young doctors to work in rural India with additional incentives may help.
Work on cleanliness as lots of diseases can be prevented with that. Clean drinking water should be provided to all India and particularly rural places, they should also we made aware about the importance of sanitation and waste disposal.
The public-private partnership model can be considered to improve infrastructure to create good primary healthcare centres.
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookie Policy.
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookie Policy.
