Uniformly Accessible Public Health Systems in Nation

by pallavi

WHO defines health as, “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. Any democratic country apart from securing political, social, religious and economic health of its citizens should bear the responsibility of securing their physical health.
The governmental spending on health care system is called Public Health System. It comprises a set of state-owned health care facilities funded and controlled by the Government of India.
The Government of India has an integrated system for public health including All India Institutes of Medical Sciences, Government Medical Colleges, District Hospitals, Taluk Hospitals, Community Health Centers and Primary Health Centers. These public health care facilitators work at various levels of society.
All these public health care facilities draw a utopian picture of health care facilities in India but, the reality is far away. Many lives are still lost during simple surgeries and treatments. The recent deaths in Chhattisgarh were a reminder of India’s weak public health system. We are still in an economy with an infrastructure which has not progressed yet to meet the needs of someone who comes in with a heart-attack, requires an operation and wants it be done safely and well.
If we observe demographically then the Government has not been able to reach the remotest regions. There are still places where pregnant women and the fetus lack on pre-natal, natal and post-natal facilities, thus leading to an infant mortality rate of forty deaths per thousand live births and a maternal death rate of one ninety per thousand females. The privatization of heath sector has increased the menace further with high medical aid cost. If we divide the Indian population on economic basis then the richest and the rich of the society can make medical facilities available to themselves but, the poor sect are still devoid of basic health care facilities.
On one hand are keen on developing smart cities in India but still don’t have facilities of helicopter ambulances at large; Government should at least provide health insurances to all its citizens. WHO in its ranking of heath care systems of the world, places India at a dismal  112th position out of 190 countries it studies this is corroborated by the fact that India spends just 4.2% of its GDP on health care, of which public health spending is mere 1.2% compared to 3% in China and 8.3% in the United States.
Really the public health care system of India is in an abysmal state and it still needs to pull up its socks, must add 1.7 million beds, double its medical manpower and increase its paramedical manpower three-fold to match WHO standards. Therefore, it becomes imperative to make public health systems uniformly accessible across the nation.