An auto rickshaw is moving swiftly through the potholes of a country-side road early in the morning. A woman is crying loudly from the rickshaw and the noise is blending with the sounds of the dawn. Radha is pregnant and is carried to the hospital by her husband Raghav, in his Auto Rickshaw. Raghav, a poor Rickshaw driver is worried and nervously speeding the vehicle to the government hospital far away from his home. Radha needed immediate medical attention. But, she delivered her baby and died inside the auto rickshaw before they reach the hospital.
Another cry is arising from somewhere near the hilltop. This time, it’s a silent weep but like the previous case, there is a birth here and a death too. Died is a newborn. And it is nothing unusual here. Yes, we are at ‘Attappady tribal colonies’, where malnutrition and anemia cause massive infant and neonatal deaths.
Above mentioned incidents point towards one of the roadblocks, ahead of the development of our nation. The grand challenges in the healthcare sector which explode into a number of challenges:
1) Population growth
It’s beyond the control. The scarcity of resources causes undernutrition and diminished quality of life. Social issues like Gender inequality, child labor, lack of education along with economic deprivation retard the developments in the healthcare sector.
2) Infrastructure
Healthcare infrastructure is well developed in urban areas. But 70% of the population spanning the Rural India is still to receive modern treatments and facilities that are available in cities. No investors are ready to spend in rural areas. Poor, living in villages are unaware of modern medicine and they depend on alternatives.
3) Economic deprivation
Regardless of city or village, poor people never get access to ultra-modern medical equipment and quality treatment. The high cost of modern treatment methods and medicine make the below poverty line population inaccessible to it. Due to the greater cost of diagnosis and prognosis, poor people leave curable diseases untreated. This counts up disease related deaths in poor.
4) Diseases and health issues
Contagious diseases such as HIV, malaria, Tuberculosis and diarrhea and non-contagious diseases like hypertension, diabetes, cancer, and heart diseases are invading the country’s population. Re-emergence of diseases and the rapid changes in the disease profile are challenging our healthcare for past few years. Underweight of newborn children, neonatal, infant and pregnancy deaths are still shadowing our path to the success in healthcare.
5) Sanitation, drinking water and waste management
Poor sanitation and improper waste management systems cause spreading of epidemics. Medical waste disposal in many cities of India is also at stake. Pure drinking water is far away from an immense population of India, especially in drought-hit areas.
6) Paucity of manpower
According to world bank's survey, our doctors to 10000 people is 7. And we also face a shortage in number of nursing and paramedical professionals. The rural areas never attract good doctors and other health workers due to lesser payments.
7) Lack of awareness and importance of health insurance
Most of the people are unaware of quality healthcare. While lifestyle diseases are shooting up among the middle and upper-class population, lower class and poor are affected by communicable diseases due to lack of preventive measures. National commission report on macro-economics says that only 5% of Indians are protected by health insurance policies. For 70% of us healthcare is out of pocket expenditure. Amid spending crores by the government, we are far behind the world health organization’s ranking of healthcare systems.
New ideas and proper implementation of schemes are required for tackling these issues:
1) Investment in health care sector
The government should build policies which attract investors in the healthcare sector that cover both urban and rural areas. Per capita expenditure in healthcare is growing up and more people are getting aware of health checkups and quality healthcare. This is a green signal for investors in the healthcare sector. Pharmaceutical companies, NGOs, and the government should collaborate to reach poor and make them avail modern treatments. New hospitals and health centers should be made in rural areas.
2) Attract healthcare professionals
More investments will naturally attract fresh graduates and new health practitioners. Give quality training to them. Government schemes should make sure that the medical professionals in rural areas are skilled.
3) Mass awareness programs
The population cannot be controlled easily, but the lifestyle of people can be changed. Large scale awareness programs about lifestyle diseases, epidemics and pregnancy care and health checkups should be initiated. NGOs and local governing bodies should volunteer for this. Disease preventions methods including vaccination and infection-free environment creation will make a pronounced effect in the betterment of healthcare.
Why doesn't the government launch an “insurance for all” program like “bank account for all”? This will help more and more private insurance companies to expand their business. Millions of people will benefit from it and it also adds up to our GDP as service sector develops.
Science and technology are the 'air and water' of modern medicine. Pharmaceuticals, clinical equipments, diagnostic methods, therapy methods and much more in the field are the result of hard work of researchers and technology experts. Funding the research in medical sector will ultimately cure the current 'health problems' of Indian healthcare.
Vast research is going on, in the field of drug discovery from natural products and scientific validation of traditional medicine. Combinatorial methods of traditional medicine and modern biomedicine are effectively tested in Rheumatoid Arthritis (Journal of Ayurveda and integrative medicine 2010). There exists immense hope for Integrative medicine as we have the legacy of a number of long practiced traditional medicines.
India is the third largest exporter of pharmaceutical products. But our production of medical devices is very low. Government’s policies like “Make in India” should extend to medical device sector. India's inclusive innovation funds can also help in this. Like Jaipur foot, an 'inclusive innovation', we can make our own low-cost quality products that are affordable for the large low income population.
Other government schemes such us ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan’ can be collaborated with healthcare development to provide better sanitation and adequate medical waste disposal.
We have ideas but implementation with care is the way to success.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-This was my third prize-winning essay entry, in Healthcare Domain of National Essay Competition organized by Impacting Research Innovation & Technology (IMPRINT), MHRD, Govt. of India. By winning the prize, I got an opportunity to visit Rashtrapati Bhavan as an invitee for the First ever Visitors Conference held at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 05 November 2015.
Another cry is arising from somewhere near the hilltop. This time, it’s a silent weep but like the previous case, there is a birth here and a death too. Died is a newborn. And it is nothing unusual here. Yes, we are at ‘Attappady tribal colonies’, where malnutrition and anemia cause massive infant and neonatal deaths.
Above mentioned incidents point towards one of the roadblocks, ahead of the development of our nation. The grand challenges in the healthcare sector which explode into a number of challenges:
1) Population growth
It’s beyond the control. The scarcity of resources causes undernutrition and diminished quality of life. Social issues like Gender inequality, child labor, lack of education along with economic deprivation retard the developments in the healthcare sector.
2) Infrastructure
Healthcare infrastructure is well developed in urban areas. But 70% of the population spanning the Rural India is still to receive modern treatments and facilities that are available in cities. No investors are ready to spend in rural areas. Poor, living in villages are unaware of modern medicine and they depend on alternatives.
3) Economic deprivation
Regardless of city or village, poor people never get access to ultra-modern medical equipment and quality treatment. The high cost of modern treatment methods and medicine make the below poverty line population inaccessible to it. Due to the greater cost of diagnosis and prognosis, poor people leave curable diseases untreated. This counts up disease related deaths in poor.
4) Diseases and health issues
Contagious diseases such as HIV, malaria, Tuberculosis and diarrhea and non-contagious diseases like hypertension, diabetes, cancer, and heart diseases are invading the country’s population. Re-emergence of diseases and the rapid changes in the disease profile are challenging our healthcare for past few years. Underweight of newborn children, neonatal, infant and pregnancy deaths are still shadowing our path to the success in healthcare.
5) Sanitation, drinking water and waste management
Poor sanitation and improper waste management systems cause spreading of epidemics. Medical waste disposal in many cities of India is also at stake. Pure drinking water is far away from an immense population of India, especially in drought-hit areas.
6) Paucity of manpower
According to world bank's survey, our doctors to 10000 people is 7. And we also face a shortage in number of nursing and paramedical professionals. The rural areas never attract good doctors and other health workers due to lesser payments.
7) Lack of awareness and importance of health insurance
Most of the people are unaware of quality healthcare. While lifestyle diseases are shooting up among the middle and upper-class population, lower class and poor are affected by communicable diseases due to lack of preventive measures. National commission report on macro-economics says that only 5% of Indians are protected by health insurance policies. For 70% of us healthcare is out of pocket expenditure. Amid spending crores by the government, we are far behind the world health organization’s ranking of healthcare systems.
New ideas and proper implementation of schemes are required for tackling these issues:
1) Investment in health care sector
The government should build policies which attract investors in the healthcare sector that cover both urban and rural areas. Per capita expenditure in healthcare is growing up and more people are getting aware of health checkups and quality healthcare. This is a green signal for investors in the healthcare sector. Pharmaceutical companies, NGOs, and the government should collaborate to reach poor and make them avail modern treatments. New hospitals and health centers should be made in rural areas.
2) Attract healthcare professionals
More investments will naturally attract fresh graduates and new health practitioners. Give quality training to them. Government schemes should make sure that the medical professionals in rural areas are skilled.
3) Mass awareness programs
The population cannot be controlled easily, but the lifestyle of people can be changed. Large scale awareness programs about lifestyle diseases, epidemics and pregnancy care and health checkups should be initiated. NGOs and local governing bodies should volunteer for this. Disease preventions methods including vaccination and infection-free environment creation will make a pronounced effect in the betterment of healthcare.
Why doesn't the government launch an “insurance for all” program like “bank account for all”? This will help more and more private insurance companies to expand their business. Millions of people will benefit from it and it also adds up to our GDP as service sector develops.
Science and technology are the 'air and water' of modern medicine. Pharmaceuticals, clinical equipments, diagnostic methods, therapy methods and much more in the field are the result of hard work of researchers and technology experts. Funding the research in medical sector will ultimately cure the current 'health problems' of Indian healthcare.
Vast research is going on, in the field of drug discovery from natural products and scientific validation of traditional medicine. Combinatorial methods of traditional medicine and modern biomedicine are effectively tested in Rheumatoid Arthritis (Journal of Ayurveda and integrative medicine 2010). There exists immense hope for Integrative medicine as we have the legacy of a number of long practiced traditional medicines.
India is the third largest exporter of pharmaceutical products. But our production of medical devices is very low. Government’s policies like “Make in India” should extend to medical device sector. India's inclusive innovation funds can also help in this. Like Jaipur foot, an 'inclusive innovation', we can make our own low-cost quality products that are affordable for the large low income population.
Other government schemes such us ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan’ can be collaborated with healthcare development to provide better sanitation and adequate medical waste disposal.
We have ideas but implementation with care is the way to success.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-This was my third prize-winning essay entry, in Healthcare Domain of National Essay Competition organized by Impacting Research Innovation & Technology (IMPRINT), MHRD, Govt. of India. By winning the prize, I got an opportunity to visit Rashtrapati Bhavan as an invitee for the First ever Visitors Conference held at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 05 November 2015.
