With a brand new Government in place and forecasts of high economic growth rates in the air, it's time to take a fresh look at our country's healthcare landscape.

India's healthcare system is ranked low at 112 out of 190 countries in the World Health Report by the World Health Organization, challenging expectations set by our government commissions and raising some key questions in every man's mind. For a huge, developing, yet mature society like India, health and healthcare is not merely self - medical or preventive care and criticism of public expenditure. It also includes the cultural understanding of ill health and welfare, exploding population numbers,  availability versus affordability, socio-economic disparities and reach, quality and costs of healthcare services to list a few.

At this stage, it will be useful to take a look challenges and opportunities the country has in offer, to understand the current state of healthcare set-up better and make the right moves.

 

Challenges and opportunities

Considered as a "complex challenge and an immense opportunity", healthcare in India has become one of the country’s largest sectors, expected grow to US $280 billion by 2020.

For the majority of us urban dwellers, these might be just fancy figures, with most modern healthcare services just a call away. However, our country is facing much bigger challenges, including the growing gap between accessibility and affordability of quality healthcare among the rural and urban population topping the list.

With India’s populationgrowth , there arises severe pressure on resources, which in turn leads to the availability of quality and affordable healthcare, especially among country’s low-income markets. This shortage places the low income communities at an elevated risk of ill health and mortality. Studies prove that, if not dealt in time, these disparities can get worse compounded by social exclusion and discrimination against women, children and general disease load.

India's latest health demographic indicators highlight that life expectancy in the country has increased from 50 years to over 64 in 2000 and Indian Mortality Rate (IMR) has come down from 1476 to 7.  However, studies also show that a staggering 60% of the population still lives in rural areas with no or insufficient access to quality hospitals, which is an important number to keep in mind while considering the progress in future. The lack of accessible healthcare services, poor implementation of the public health programs, difficulty in accessing transport and high costs, drive people to postpone treatment or avail ineffective alternative treatments.

Another key national goal to focus on should be not merely the reduction of deaths, but reduction of mortality among infants, children and women. Action need to be focussed on this venerable segments, informing and creating awareness about family planning, safe motherhood, foeticides, child rearing and nutrition.

India also faces the burden of epidemics due to the lack of proper sanitation, access to safe drinking water and limited access to preventive health services. This coupled with economic deprivation and poor educational background advance these existing challenges further.

The implementation of National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) have played a pivotal role in India’s healthcare system. However, WHO's National Health Accounts show that India's healthcare has grown at a slower rate than the country's GDP. A lot more needs to be done, atan increased pace, to bridge the existing gaps in the system.

A McKinsey & Company report on the industry rightly states the period from 2002 to 2012 :a decade of lessons learnt but opportunities lost." Understanding the existing healthcare concerns and prospects are important to make better decisions and take the right moves. Healthcare in India cannot be solely established, managed and disseminated by the government. It requires equal and activeparticipation of other visionaries in the industry to uplift and bring about the right change.

Sagar Hospitals have always stood by its mission, "With You. For Life", and initiatives to build awareness. With over a decade of goodwill and trust and a passionate team of healthcare experts, Sagar Hospitals have always been in the forefront support and help all those are in need with free camps and financial aids.