One of the key reasons of such poor access is lack of adequate healthcare infrastructure. As per the Government’s own estimate of 2006, India records a shortage of:
1. 4803 Primary Health Centres (PHC)
2. 2653 Community Health Centres (CHS)
3. Almost no large Public Hospitals in rural areas where over 70% of the populations live
4. Density of doctors in India is just 0.6 per 1000 population against 1.4 and 0.8 per 1000 population in China and Pakistan respectively , as reported by WHO.
Moreover, doctors themselves do not want work in rural areas, probably because of lack of basic infrastructural facilities. We have witnessed public agitation of the doctors on this issue, in not so distant past.
National Health Policy and Healthcare Expenditure:
Two key primary focus areas of the Government, everybody agrees, should be education and health of its citizens. Current National Health Policy also planned an overall increase in health spending as 6% of GDP by 2010. However India spent, both public and private sectors put together, an estimated 5% of GDP on healthcare, in 2008.
If we look at only the spending by the Government of India towards healthcare, it is just 1.2% of GDP, against 2% of GDP by China and 1.6% of GDP by Sri Lanka, as reported in the World Health Report 2006 by WHO.
During the current phase of global and local financial meltdown, as the government will require to allocate additional resources towards various economic stimulus measures for the industrial and banking sectors, public healthcare expenditure is destined to decline even further.
The silver lining:
However we have seen the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government allocating around US$2.3 billion for the National Rural Health Mission (NRHS). The Government announced that NRHS aims to bring about uniformity in quality of preventive and curative healthcare in rural areas across the country.
Inefficient healthcare delivery system:
Despite above silver lining of additional resource allocation, the net outcome does not appear to be so encouraging even to an eternal optimist, because of prevailing inadequacy within the system.
The reasons for such inadequacies do not get restricted to just rampant corruption, bureaucratic delay and sheer inefficiency. The way Government statistics mask inadequate infrastructural facilities is indeed equally difficult to apprehend. A recent report from ‘The Economist’, which reads as follows, will vindicate this point:
‘…around 20% of the 600,000 inhabited villages in India still have no electricity at all. This official estimate understates the extent of the problem, as it defines an electrified village—very generously—as one in which at least 10% of households have electricity’.
Leveraging the strength of Information Technology (IT) to considerably neutralize the system weaknesses:
One of the ways to address this problem is to utilize the acquired strengths of India wherever we have, to neutralize these weaknesses. Proficiency in ‘Information Technology’ (IT) is one of the well recognized key acquired strengths that India currently possesses. If we can optimally harness the IT strengths of India, this pressing healthcare issue could possibly be addressed to a significant extent.
One such IT enabled technology that we can use to address rural healthcare issues is ‘cyber healthcare delivery’ for distant diagnosis and treatment of ailments. Required medicines for treatment could be made available to the patients through ‘Jan Aushadhi’ initiative of the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), by utilising the Government controlled distribution outlets like, public distribution system (ration shops) and post offices, which are located even in far flung and remote villages of India.
Please use the following links to read more about these subjects:
http://www.tapanray.in/profiles/blogs/healthcare-services-in-india
http://www.tapanray.in/profiles/blogs/jan-aushadhi-medicines-for
Sources of Healthcare financing in India:
Currently the sources of healthcare financing are patchy and sporadic as follows, with over 70% of the population remaining uncovered:
1. Public sector: comprising local, State and Central Governments autonomous public sector bodies for their employees
2. Government health scheme like:
• ‘Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana’: for BPL families to avail free treatment in more than 80 private hospitals and private nursing homes.
• ‘Rajiv Gandhi Shilpi Swasthya Bima Yojana’ by Textile Ministry: for weavers.
• ‘Niramaya’ by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment: for BPL families.
3. Private sector: directly or through group health insurance for their employees.
4. ‘Karnataka Yeshavini co-operative farmers’ health insurance scheme: championed by Dr. Devi Shetty without any insurance tie-up.
5. ‘Rajiv Aarogyasri’ by the Government of Andhra Pradesh for BPL families: a Public Private Partnership initiative between Government, Private insurance and Medical community.
6. Individual health insurance policies.
7. External Aid like, Bill & Melinda Gate Foundation, Clinton Foundation etc.
Grossly inadequate health care financing in India, out of pocket expenses being over 70%:
Proportion of healthcare expenditure from financing source in India has been reported as follows:
• Central Government: 6%
• State Government: 13%
• Firms: 5%
• Individual Health Insurance: 3.5%
• Out of pocket by individual household: 72.5%
Need for Health Insurance for all strata of society to address the issue of affordability:
Even after leveraging IT for ‘cyber healthcare diagnosis’ and having low priced quality medicines made available from ‘Jan Aushadhi’ outlets of DoP, healthcare financing to make healthcare delivery affordable to a vast majority of the population will be an essential requirement.
According to a survey done by National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), 40% of the people hospitalised in India borrow money or sell assets to cover their medical expenses. A large number of populations cannot afford to required treatment at all.
Hence it is imperative that the health insurance coverage is encouraged in our country by the government through appropriate incentives. Increasing incidence of lifestyle diseases and rising medical costs further emphasise the need for health insurance. Health insurance coverage in India is currently estimated at just around 3.5% of the population with over 70% of the Indian population living without any form of health coverage.
Conclusion:
Therefore, in my view an integrated approach by leveraging IT, appropriately structured Health Insurance schemes for all strata of society, supported by well and evenly distributed ‘Jan Aushadhi’ outlets, deserves consideration by the Government. A detail and comprehensive implementable plan is to be prepared towards this direction to address the pressing issue of improving ‘Access to Affordable Integrated Healthcare’ to a vast majority of population in India, if not to ALL.
By Tapan Ray
Disclaimer: The views/opinions expressed in this article are entirely my own, written in my individual and personal capacity. I do not represent any other person or organization for this opinion.