A Global Experience
The fundamental purpose of healthcare is to improve the health of an individual. According to the World Health Organization health is defined as a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being. Every individual deserves the right to access affordable healthcare services regardless of ethnicity, economic status, or gender. The global push towards a universal healthcare has motivated many countries to refinance their federal budget. In 1983, the Indian parliament endorsed the National Healthy Policy to ensure the health coverage of every Indian citizens by the year 2000 (Balarajan, Y. 2011). As of today the healthcare system in India is universal, however, due to limitations and discrepancies the quality of medical treatment is poor.
On May 30, 2017, I was fortunate enough to attend a global health seminar hosted by Dr. Lokesh who is a pulmonologist at JSS hospital located in Mysore, India. Dr. Lokesh presentation addressed limitations within India public health sector. The public health sector is funded by the state government and is heavily concentrated in rural areas. The funds received from the state government are distributed among primary health centers, and district hospitals. Services offered by primary health centers are limited to basic preventive services such as administering basic drugs for minor ailment. District hospitals consumes majority of the funds allowing them to offer advanced curative services.
Majority of the challenges and limitations associated with the public health sector are contributed to insufficient funding and lack of human resources. The mindset of many doctors in India is to make as much money as possible. This money hunger mindset has driven doctors into the lucrative private health sector creating a massive shortage of doctors within the public health sectors. The shortcomings within the public health sector infrastructure helped to rapidly expand the private health sector. Generally, only the middle and upper class Indians can afford to pay out of pocket to attend a private health sector facility (Deogaonkar, M. 2004)
Death related to the neglect of medical attention occurs more frequently in rural areas. According to the Times of India, in 2015 twenty-seven percent of deaths in India were due to lack of medical attention (Tini, S. 2015). Minor surgeries such as moving the appendix can make the difference between life and death. Also awareness of general good health practice can be used to decrease preventive death. Insufficient funds within the public health sector makes the access to minor surgeries and educational programs nearly impossible to obtain.
The limitation of insufficient funding can be solved by the state and central government, who both possess the power to increase government spending on healthcare (Deogaonkar, M. 2004). The additional funds can be incorporated from taxes to establish new primary centers, provide monetary incentives to doctors, increase the number of beds within district hospitals, and provide transportation to district hospitals. For such change to occur within the universal health coverage it must first begin with the mass population vocalizing their opinions.
As a middle class American citizen, I have taken access to good quality healthcare for granted. I’ve never experienced any sort of difficulties accessing or affording healthcare services. Learning about healthcare in India has served as an eye-opening experience. To know that millions of individuals die from minor health issues that could be resolved by a minor surgery is shocking. The more I learn about global health the more passionate I become about pursuing a career in medicine. As a physician, I will have the power to use my expertise to contribute drastically to the health of others.