Paper: I
For Mains: Public Health System in India.
 
 
Context of News:

• COVID-19 has created a havoc all around the world, Covid-19 pandemic has created a new urges among the people that there is need for more spending and there is demand for aggressive expenditure on health care system in India. A long loophole in health care expenditure has reveal that there is need for strengthen the country’s public health system.

• With this virus becoming epidemic, concerns have been raised that there is need for public spending on health care by India and improving the existing situation of healthcare system in India.

Present Healthcare Spending by India:

Paper: I
For Mains: Public Health System in India.
 
 
Context of News:

• COVID-19 has created a havoc all around the world, Covid-19 pandemic has created a new urges among the people that there is need for more spending and there is demand for aggressive expenditure on health care system in India. A long loophole in health care expenditure has reveal that there is need for strengthen the country’s public health system.

• With this virus becoming epidemic, concerns have been raised that there is need for public spending on health care by India and improving the existing situation of healthcare system in India.

Present Healthcare Spending by India:

• At present, health spending is only 1.15-1.5% of GDP.  In every budget around 10.6% of the total amount is allocated to defence, while only 2.2% is allocated to healthcare.
• India’s per capita expenditure on health remains among the lowest in the world.
• The presented Interim Budget is responsive to the needs of farmers and the middle class, it does not adequately respond to the needs of the health sector, atlest on ground level.

Challenges for Healthcare System in India:

• Expensive Private Medical Education: 

• Increasingly high cost of medical education in the private sector is forcing many students in India to look for cheaper destinations abroad.
• Countries such as China, Russia, Ukraine, Philippines and Nepal have become popular destinations for aspiring doctors as the cost can be less than half of what private institutes charge in India.
• Expensive medical studies are responsible for dearth of doctors in India as after acquiring studies from abroad they do not prefer to practice their profession in India because of the necessity to clear the exam conducted by the Medical Council of India.

• Overburdened Doctors: 

• Owing to disproportionate Doctor Patient ratio, limited number of doctors, nurses and medical staff have to cater to a large number of patients.

• Ailing Public health sector: 

• Meager healthcare budget, overcrowding, long waiting time and the need for multiple visits for investigations and consultations frustrate patients on a daily basis.

• Paucity of Resources: 

• Doctors work in extreme conditions ranging from overcrowded out-patient departments, inadequate staff, medicines and infrastructure.
• Unaffordable Treatments: More than 17% of Indian population spends at least 10% of household budgets for health services.

• Catastrophic healthcare related expenditure pushes families into debt, more than 24% households in rural India and 18% of the population in urban areas have met their healthcare expenses through some sort of borrowings.

• Ineffective Implementation of Laws:

• Inspite of having the laws that envisage imprisonment besides recovery of compensation from perpetrators for loss or damage to Medical professionals and property, states are lacking in its effective implementation.
• For example West Bengal has also enacted a law for protection of doctors but due to its poor implementation it has failed to curb the ongoing doctor-patient crisis.

Conclusion:

• The Central and State governments have introduced several innovations in the healthcare sector in recent times, in line with India’s relentless pursuit of reforms.
• However, while the government’s goal is to increase public health spending to 2.5% of GDP by the year 2025, there are lot of challenges that needs to be filled up in achieving this target.
• Since a major innovation in universal healthcare, Ayushman Bharat, is being rolled out, it must be matched with a quantum leap in funding. Only if we invest more for the long-term health of the nation will there be a similar rise in GDP.

To reach its target, the government should increase funding for health by 20-25% every year for the next five years or more.

• At present, health spending is only 1.15-1.5% of GDP.  In every budget around 10.6% of the total amount is allocated to defence, while only 2.2% is allocated to healthcare.
• India’s per capita expenditure on health remains among the lowest in the world.
• The presented Interim Budget is responsive to the needs of farmers and the middle class, it does not adequately respond to the needs of the health sector, atlest on ground level.

Challenges for Healthcare System in India:

• Expensive Private Medical Education: 

• Increasingly high cost of medical education in the private sector is forcing many students in India to look for cheaper destinations abroad.
• Countries such as China, Russia, Ukraine, Philippines and Nepal have become popular destinations for aspiring doctors as the cost can be less than half of what private institutes charge in India.
• Expensive medical studies are responsible for dearth of doctors in India as after acquiring studies from abroad they do not prefer to practice their profession in India because of the necessity to clear the exam conducted by the Medical Council of India.

• Overburdened Doctors: 

• Owing to disproportionate Doctor Patient ratio, limited number of doctors, nurses and medical staff have to cater to a large number of patients.

• Ailing Public health sector: 

• Meager healthcare budget, overcrowding, long waiting time and the need for multiple visits for investigations and consultations frustrate patients on a daily basis.

• Paucity of Resources: 

• Doctors work in extreme conditions ranging from overcrowded out-patient departments, inadequate staff, medicines and infrastructure.
• Unaffordable Treatments: More than 17% of Indian population spends at least 10% of household budgets for health services.

• Catastrophic healthcare related expenditure pushes families into debt, more than 24% households in rural India and 18% of the population in urban areas have met their healthcare expenses through some sort of borrowings.

• Ineffective Implementation of Laws:

• Inspite of having the laws that envisage imprisonment besides recovery of compensation from perpetrators for loss or damage to Medical professionals and property, states are lacking in its effective implementation.
• For example West Bengal has also enacted a law for protection of doctors but due to its poor implementation it has failed to curb the ongoing doctor-patient crisis.

Conclusion:

• The Central and State governments have introduced several innovations in the healthcare sector in recent times, in line with India’s relentless pursuit of reforms.
• However, while the government’s goal is to increase public health spending to 2.5% of GDP by the year 2025, there are lot of challenges that needs to be filled up in achieving this target.
• Since a major innovation in universal healthcare, Ayushman Bharat, is being rolled out, it must be matched with a quantum leap in funding. Only if we invest more for the long-term health of the nation will there be a similar rise in GDP.

To reach its target, the government should increase funding for health by 20-25% every year for the next five years or more.