GD Topic | Affordable Healthcare In India

There have been numerous discussions on healthcare costs in policy circles and how India is struggling against fiscal deficits to ensure access to healthcare for everyone. In the five-year plans, the government still regards healthcare as a primary priority and promotes understanding, and since independence, the country has certainly made remarkable improvements. 

A topic that piques the interest of many, it might turn up as a GD topic during your admission or placement interviews. So, let’s critically analyze and understand this GD topic regarding the scenario of affordable healthcare in India.

Current scenario of healthcare in India

Access to healthcare is weak in India and this factor is highlighted by The Lancet in its latest report. India ranks 145th out of 195 countries in terms of quality and healthcare accessibility. India is placed behind its neighbors like China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan. More than half of the Indian female population is anemic or at childbearing age, and suffers from deficiencies. Despite major improvements in health indicators such as maternal and infant mortality, the burden of disease in India is disproportionately high. As per UNICEF India, only 65 percent of children in India receive full immunization during the first year of their life. Apart from this, malnutrition and other disease and injury risk factors are widespread in children in India.

Compared to global data, India currently has one of the lowest expenses on health care. This is when the Union Budget 2022-23 allocated INR 86,200 crore to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, which is a nearly 16.5 percent increase in comparison to INR 73,932 cr in FY 2020-21.

India currently imports nearly 80 percent of all medical devices as domestic production took more of a hit post-GST. With imports increasing at a high rate, the government needs to take urgent steps to improve local demand if India wants to become a manufacturing hub. 

Government’s steps toward affordable healthcare

• Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojna (PMBJP): With the aim of making quality medicines available to everyone at affordable rates, Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendras outlets were set up, which is an ambitious scheme to minimize medical expenses out of pocket.
• National Nutrition Mission: Announced as an addition to the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao program on International Women's Day on March 8, 2018, this scheme focuses on women and children. The primary objective is to ensure nutritional status in a timely manner among children 0-6 years of age, adolescent and anemic girls, pregnant women and lactating mothers.
• Mission Indradhanush: This health mission, launched on 25 December 2014, aims to protect children up to 2 years of age and also pregnant women from diseases that can be cured by low-cost, timely vaccinations. Tuberculosis, poliomyelitis, hepatitis B, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, and measles are among the targeted diseases.

Apart from the above, the Government has started the following programmes for preventing malnutrition and deficiency disorders.  

• National Iodine Deficiency Disorders Control Programme
• MAA (Mothers’ Absolute Affection) Programme for Infant and Young Child Feeding
• National Programme for Prevention and Control of Fluorosis (NPPCF)
• National Iron Plus Initiative for Anaemia Control

Problems faced by healthcare in India

The uncertainty of India's financial bottlenecks in the healthcare sector is exacerbated by the federalist approach of the nation to healthcare policies, practices, and financing in which independent states retain control over the spending and distribution of resources for their state healthcare. 

While this model has the ability to motivate states to make their citizens' well-being a priority, corruption, and inability to cooperate have resulted in an inconsistency in the national health system. 

• Access or its lack: When we look at the urban poor and their rural equivalents outside the more well-connected urban communities, questions like 'What is the level of access of our population to good quality healthcare?' arise. What is the level of care that it provides, even though a healthcare facility is physically accessible? Is the treatment available continuously? Many local health centers lack the necessary amenities and 47% of vacancy of doctors remains unfilled due to financial constraints. India's doctor-population ratio of 1: 854 i.e. one doctor for 854 patients. 
• Cost of healthcare: It is common knowledge that in the healthcare arena in India, the private sector is the leading force. Nearly 75% of healthcare spending comes from household wallets, and disastrous healthcare costs are a major cause of poverty. The public sector provides healthcare at little or no cost, but is considered to be inconsistent, of indifferent quality, and is not necessarily the first choice unless private insurance cannot be afforded.
• Infrastructure lacking: The health infrastructure prevailing in India is not promising; in addition, the large gap in the availability of medical facilities in rural and urban areas is making the situation even worse. The shortage of physicians, nurses, and hospitals contributes to inefficient infrastructure.

We still have a long way to go in terms of healthcare. Consistent efforts by Government and awareness among people will help to make situations better. 

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