India must Invest more in Health Care

If India
Posted on 2009-04-07
has to progress and claim its superiority among the nations, it is necessary to control population growth, increase literacy rates, enhance employment opportunities and ensure better health for all its citizens.
APRIL 7 is observed as World Health Day. India has had a series of health problems that had struck our nation and economy but the battle for better health continues with a sense of urgency. After the successful eradication of small pox and the elimination of leprosy from the country, we are left with HIV-AIDS and TB as major health problems.
The SAARC asked its member countries to allocate at least 3 per cent of the GDP on the health sector, whereas India’s allocation to the health sector did not even bring it closer to 1 per cent of the GDP. Are we really serious about the health of the people? Medical care is a basic right and an issue of social justice. Providing clean drinking water and better sanitation facilities are the key factors in promoting public health.
Some shocking facts from the WHO – 2.6 million people die in India annually because of poor sanitation alone, the nutrition levels in India are below some sub-Saharan African countries, which amounts to a shocking 2.1 million infant deaths per annum.
Many factors determine the health both of individual and of the communities in which they live. These factors include income, social relationships, access to and use of basic services such as water supply and sanitation, the quality of available health services, individual responsibility and the quality of the environment. It is important that children have access to information about the impact of risky behaviour on their health and on the well being of their community. Health awareness in schools and colleges can build a healthy environment.
Nearly three-fourth of the Indian population lives in rural areas; therefore more importance needs to be given to village health. We should bridge the rural-urban divide and bring health accessibilities in rural areas too.
What we need is an excellent health awareness system. The health message should reach the grass-root levels and help in removing misconceptions. Better communication strategies need to be applied for disseminating health message to the masses. NGOs can do wonders by emphasising more awareness programmes. Media too has an important role in play.
If India has to progress and claim its superiority among the nations, it is necessary to control population growth, increase literacy rates, enhance employment opportunities and ensure better health for all its citizens.
Corporate social responsibility is the buzzword and the corporate-sector plunging into the betterment of the society is a welcome sign. The government too should take advantage of this situation and enhance public-private partnership for overall development.
Despite remarkable economic growth, India is still behind Bangladesh when it comes to nutrition levels. Can we allow ‘India shinning’ to become ‘India suffering’?
The theme for World Health Day 2009 is ‘Save lives, make hospitals safe in emergency’. It focuses on the resilience and safety of health facilities and the health workers who treat those affected by emergencies.
Health should be made a felt-need, then only the maxim ‘Health is Wealth’ will be more effective. Elections in India are round the corner; better health for the citizens of the country is one of the issues for the voters. Let’s see who keeps the promise!
-DR NARAYAN B IYER, The writer is the National Co-ordinator of the Indian Development Foundation (IDF) and a resident of Mumbai