India's Health Sector

Mahatma Gandhi remarked

“It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.”

Expanding Mahatma Gandhi’s quote, Health is something on which countries Progress and Prospers, and if our citizens are healthy it is indeed a reflection of the country’s Health Policy. Article 21 of our Constitution states Health is a Primary Human right for every Indian.

Taking an insight of India’s Health sector. Health sector/industry is something which will never die in India. For a country of 1.2 Billion this industry is just going to thrive, it has grown exponentially and the outlook of Health Industry seems Healthy if the GoI take a look at it seriously. While other industry will have their share of ups and down, Health is something which each one of us just cannot afford to ignore as we grow in this intense competitive world plugged with all kinds of mental/physical/economical and emotional challenges.

I am lucky to be born in India n learn the essentials of surviving/existing (not living, Remember the difference between Living and Existing what we learned in school). It is not a joke for any country to reach a billion without a good hell sector (Sorry for the misspelling, it should read Health sector).

How Healthy is India’s Health Industry???

Pre-Independence days, our health care was more inclined to the traditional medicine than the conventional health care. Since Independence the influence of Allopathic medicine made steady progress in our country. While India population grew, the Govt just could not match/cater to the masses. The need for better, quick and effective medical care was getting a dream, this is when the GoI in ‘80’s allowed the Private sector to enter into the fray turning fm solo practitioners to nursing homes and later full fledged hospital. Today India has some of the World class State of Art hospitals. We have been boasting of Medical Tourism, wherein patients from abroad come over in hordes to get treated for various ailments/diseases. Viz: Bypass, Orthopedic, Dental, Child care, Cosmetic etc etc wherein combining the modern treatments & Ayurvedic Therapy. India has many Five n Seven Star hospitals in Delhi N Mumbai. We are backed up with a large pool of foreign educated/trained doctor who have mastered their skills. No doubt India is the best place to get hands on experience while G7 countries are showing a decline in population. The Pharma Industry is working in tandem with the Medical Profession to produce life saving drugs.

While India’ medical fraternity smile with the flow of their foreign patients and their earning fm the foreign exchange. A visit to some of these clinic will display Testimony from their patients treated in many foreign languages.
Our own Aam Admi on the street is left high and dry wondering why he has been deprived of this same facilities while the world comes here on a package tour of Medical & Pleasure. Are we 1st class or a 3rd Class citizens in our own country??? The only differentiating factor is that our guest who visit, brings along Foreign exchange while we slog on for several years paying taxes to not even get Basic Health care. This is an Irony.


Aam Admi’s Health Nightmare.

While the rich can afford the best of the treatments at any cost.
Walk in to any of the Govt or Local Municipal hospitals to gauge the ground reality.
I am sure u will be shocked to find the appalling conditions in these hospitals.
The beds, equipments, facilities, support staff etc etc. A lot is desired and the so called hospitals are not a make shift relief camp/clinic. As u travel to Tier 2 or 3 cities or to smaller towns, Primary health care is just not adequate.
I happened to visit one of the Municipal/Govt hospitals in Mumbai, shocked to find the way the patient’s r bundled, the Old & the sick frail, limping without even a proper wheel chair. I prayed for them wondering what changes if any, could have bn done to improve this. I was dumbstruck n helpless and wondered if our Govt is spending enough on this sector. This made me blog on this issue. Stats show that India just spends 5% of GDP on health care , while the US spends almost 16 % of their GDP. India also lacks the no of beds in hospital per 1000 population, while the world average is 4, India stands just a little over 0.7 beds per 1K.

Health care for a common man is at crossroads, it is just not affordable even to middle income group forget the LIG n BPL. We pay hefty medical premium to cover against any eventuality. However with inflation and escalating cost, the cover is just not sufficient. In case of any terminal illness or major surgeries it can drain not only all your savings but can transform the family fm rich to rags. Emergency care is only for those who can shell out money, Specialty care is well beyond reach for an average Indian.

Health Reforms will reach Health Care for all

We need more Doctors/Pra-medical staff and Well equipped Hospitals catering to the common man either funded thru Govt or philanthropist.

With India’ huge population, we could have one of the best Health care system wherein we can rope in lacs of youth in Primary Health care n Medical profession. We just need to stress the +ve side of this profession to attract the best talent.

Just in line of PPF, start a Medical scheme so that individuals can monthly set aside a nominal amount for Health, so that they could avail the facilities later in life.

In rural area, start a Co-operative Health scheme where in the daily labourer/farmer contributes monthly a fixed amount on a monthly basis which builds up the corpus and help the community as a whole

Last but not the least, WE NEED TO ENSURE AFFORDABILITY without which no amount of Advancement in Medicine will benefit the common man.

With Indian Population aging there is a urgent need to address above.

Let me end with a quote fm Benjamin “The Health of People is really the Foundation upon which all their happiness and all their power as a Country/State depend”

Thanks of reading, please post in ur comments or email ur valuable feedback to hkumanath@gmail.com .

Take care, God bless u and keep smiling.

Is Population a BOOM or a DOOM

India’ Population crossed a Billion a decade back. Since India’s Independence our population has grown steadily in Geometric progression fm 345 Million to cross over a Billion in 1999 a three folds jump. Indian’s constitutes almost 1/5th of the Global Population, just 2nd to China and with the current birth rate we will surpass them by 2025.

While India has grown in leaps n bounds in almost all the spheres since 1947, we keep patting our back for all the laurels we have achieved. Now with the kind of population explosion, the time has come for us to Check in our Population. This is something nobody wants to discuss. Today none of the Political Parties, Past or Present, Media or NGO’s are ready to debate. It is not that the Govt is naïve or not VISIONARY; it is just that the Govt wants to shy away fm this topic. It is this huge illiterate population on which the Politician thrive upon and use them as a vehicle for a assured vote bank to stay in power. At every General and Assembly election the prospective candidates keep making false promises to the ppl for them to b voted back to power. This has been a vicious circle for so many years and Generation Next will have to pay a heavy price for our ignorance.
The Govt earlier slogan of Hum Do Humar Do does not hold good in today’s already overstretched and overburden infrastructure and resources.

Population is indeed a BOOM.

Look around as u travel back fm ur office/home. The Infrastructure and our fellow citizens, though a lot is still desired. It is nice to see India progressing. Living in a city I used to wonder IF India was/is indeed really a poor country with the kind of wealth u c.
FMCG/Telecom/General Industry/FII are all having a very good run n smile as their sales have picked up with the growing population. Today India is a destination for all major MNC’s, that is becoz of the very sheer size of our population and our consumption. While the growth in the population has fuelled in growth in many industries and sectors, it has created more jobs which effectively increases our living standards/index and overall contributes to the growth of the country. India’s best brain are around the world in almost all disciplines, be it Space, Finance or Art. We are building other nations and contributing to their economy.

The dark side of BOOM, I won’t say DOOM, but could be a DOOM.

India has limited natural resources, be it the Land, Water N Oil. We still heavily depend on Agriculture and the Monsoon. With the uneven distribution of Industries & Wealth.
The people fm the villages migrate to the cities in search of work. There is a heavy influx of migrated population coming up to the city in search of work. Stats prove that India’s rural population has grown tremendously in the last 5 decades. With no work/occupation. The population in rural India keeps multiplying as they have NOTHING TO DO.
The myth that of “More Hands more Money/Work to sustain” just does not hold good anymore. This ceases as soon as our Agriculture land turns into another SEZ or is earmarked to setup a plant/industry.
The exploitation of our mineral resources is threatening our forests, nature reserves, and general ecology. Seventy percent of our energy resources need to be imported putting constant pressure on us to export more or face currency devaluation. Over use of resources is contributing to natural disasters occurring more frequently and with greater devastation. Life is a big struggle just to put together the bare essentials for survival, and shortages of resources works most against the poor and underprivileged. Even as sections of India's middle-class struggle with scarcities - it is the poor and vulnerable sections of society who suffer most. With the steady growth in the population there will be more strain on these very resources on which we capitalized so long. It is time we learn to sustain and retain.

Looking into the above perspective, I wonder what solution/policy India needs to adapt:

The govt should comes with bold legislation for a One Child Policy and should reward Couples/Bachelor/Spinsters who adopt a child.

There has to be a mass education program emphasizing the affects of over population in the rural areas and how we should control it. Rope in NGO’s and various other bodies to get across the message.

There seems to be no Govt policy on this issue..
NO AMOUNT OF GROWTH CAN KEEP IN PACE WITH POPULATION GROWTH. @ We will not be able to sustain another quarter century.

Development in Medicine have largely contributed to the lower mortality rate,
We need to wake up and at least start a debate, o/wise NO matter what amount of our growth of 8% or 9% GDP will be null and void if we have equally more number of mouths to feed and take care.

Let me end with the quote fm Sir Richard Attenborough:
“Instead of controlling the environment for the benefit of the population, may be we should control the population to ensure the survival of our environment.

Thanks of reading, please post in ur comments or email ur valuable feedback to hkumanath@gmail.com .

Take care, God bless u and keep smiling.