What is Health?
Health means our ability to remain free of illness and injuries. It refers to both mental and physical health. A healthy body is able to operate and function freely and efficiently. Good health makes us appreciate life more.
Healthcare in India:
(i) India has the largest number of medical colleges in the world and is among the largest producer of doctors.
(ii) India is the fourth largest producer of medicines in the world.
(iii) Most doctors settle in urban areas, while people in rural areas have to travel long distance for medical facilities.
(iv) About 5 lakh people die from tuberculosis every year, while 2 million cases of malaria are reported every year.
(v) Healthcare facilities have grown.
(vi) India gets a large number of medical tourists in the world. They come to avail good quality medical facilities.
(vii) We are not able to provide good clean drinking water to all. Hence, many people suffer from communicable water-borne diseases.
(viii) Half of the children in India do not get adequate food and are undernourished.
Private and Public Healthcare:
(i) Healthcare is divided into two categories: Public health services and private health services.
- Public health services are a chain of health centres and hospitals run by the government.
- One important aspect of public health is that it is meant to provide quality healthcare services either free or at low cost so that even the poor can seek treatment.
- At the village level, there are health centres where there is usually a nurse and a village health worker. They are trained in dealing with common illnesses and work under the supervision of doctors at the Primary Health Centre (PHC). Such a centre covers many villages in a rural area. At the district level is the District Hospital that also supervises all the health centres. Large cities have many government hospitals.
- Another important function of public health is to take action to prevent the spread of diseases such as TB, malaria, jaundice, cholera, etc.
- According to our Constitution, it is the primary duty of the government to ensure the welfare of the people and provide health care facilities to all. The government must safeguard the Right to Life of every person.
- Private health services are not owned or controlled by the government. People have to pay a lot of money for every service that they use.
- A large number of doctors run their own private clinics. In the rural areas, one finds Registered Medical Practitioners (RMPs). Urban areas have large number of doctors, many of them providing specialised services. There are hospitals and nursing homes that are privately owned. There are many laboratories that do tests and offer special facilities such as X-ray, ultrasound, etc. There are also shops from where we buy medicines.
Healthcare and Equality:
(i) In India, private health services are increasing but public health services are not. As cost of these private services is high, many people cannot afford them.
(ii) Private services sometime encourage practices which are unethical. Barely 20% of the Indian population can afford medicines that they require during an illness.
(iii) It is the responsibility of the government to provide quality healthcare services to all its citizens, especially the poor and the disadvantaged.
(iv) In 1996, the Kerala government made some major changes in the state.
- Forty per cent of the entire state budget was given to panchayats. They could plan and provide for their requirements.
- This made it possible for a village to make sure that proper planning was done for water, food, women’s development and education.
- Water supply schemes were checked, the working of schools and anganwadis was ensured and specific problems of the village were taken up. Health centres were also improved.
(v) The best example of healthcare comes from Costa Rica where the government provides for adequate healthcare to people.
- Several years ago, Costa Rica took a very important decision and decided not to have an army. This helped the Costa Rican government to spend the money that the army would have used, on health, education and other basic needs of the people.
- The Costa Rican government believes that a country has to be healthy for its development and pays a lot of attention to the health of its people. The Costa Rican government provides basic services and amenities to all Costa Ricans. For example, it provides safe drinking water, sanitation, nutrition and housing.
- It is the primary duty of the government to ensure the welfare of the people and provide healthcare to all.
- The government could increase the number of hospitals or medical vans in rural and remote places for better access to healthcare.
- Sanitation facilities and proper drainage system could be improved.
- With the help of different agencies, the government could provide efficient filters for clean and safe drinking water.
- Proper garbage dumps and disposable bags should be provided and maintained.
- Through different campaigns and educational programmes, people should be made aware of different health problems. For example, people are made aware of diseases such as diarrhea and dysentery due to poor hygiene through advertisements.
- Special treatment must be there for women, who are a vital part of our society. Specialised care is needed for young mothers and pregnant women, especially those who live in remote areas.
- Medicines should be available either at free costs or at very low costs.
- Even proper toilets and washrooms should be provided and maintained at every corner.
- The government should also invest more in healthcare and ensure that funds are used appropriately for providing the public with healthcare facilities.
- The government should safeguard the right to life of every person.
- It is the government's duty to provide necessary health services, including treatment in emergency situations.
- We need appropriate health care facilities such as health centres, hospitals, laboratories for testing, ambulance services, blood banks etc.
- In order to run these facilities we need health workers, nurses, qualified doctors and other health professionals who can advice, diagnose and treat illnesses.
- Clean drinking water and pollution free environment should be provided by the government.
- The government should take action to prevent the spread of diseases like TB, Malaria, jaundice, cholera, diarrhea etc.
These are some of the ways for the improvement of public health which if implemented properly, could definitely bring a positive change in our society.
| Facility | Cost of Services | Availability of service |
| Private | Expensive (high cost) | The service is easily available as private health centers use modern and advanced techniques. They are also not very crowded.They are more accountable to the patients |
| Public | Cheap (low cost) | It is difficult to avail proper services as there is a lack of equipment. The public health centers are very crowded and service is very slow and inefficient. |
The table above concludes that private health centres provide efficient quality services. Even in rural areas we can find Registered Medical Practitioner (RMP). Doctors are well educated and qualified and provide best facilities to their patients, and hence the health centres are costly. There are many shops which sell medicines. On the other hand, public health centres, lacking in infrastructure, provide services which don't match with the advanced techniques used by private ones but these facilities are cheaper in cost and are easily used by poor people. They are also very poorly maintained without any hygiene. The resources needed to run these public services are obtained from the money we pay to the government as taxes. Preventing the spread of diseases like cholera, typhoid etc has to be organised by the government with the participation of the people.
- Regular checks of water coolers, roof tops and wherever the water is stagnant should be conducted in every house. These checks could prevent mosquito breeding and could save many lives.
- The government should check the quality of water provided at regular intervals.
- Proper checks on waste disposal and sewerage treatment should be ensured.
- Awareness should be created among the public about the causes of water borne diseases.
- People should be educated on the consequences of the consumption and use of contaminated water. That way, the diseases can be controlled.