India witnesses a unique and wide spectrum of disease profile ranging from maternal & child healthcare in the rural areas to lifestyle diseases in the urban areas. A comprehensive healthcare agenda covering this complete spectrum of rural and urban health is the need of the day.
Last year’s economic survey pointed out that India has the lowest health spend – 4.1 per cent – as a proportion of its GDP, while the US spends around 15.2 per cent of its GDP on health; France spends 11.2 per cent and Britain 8.4 per cent. Even the private plus government spending is abysmally low compared to other nations.
While healthcare is a major and debatable political issue in the western world, in India it sadly finds just a passing mention in the election manifestos of various political parties. It is high time that health found a place in the political dialogues of the world’s largest democracy. Underfunding and poor governance in healthcare spending seem to be the root cause in our ineffectiveness in delivering optimum healthcare facilities to our citizens.
The government should act as a catalyst by providing sustainable healthcare delivery business models through private public partnerships (PPPs) thus benefitting all stakeholders including healthcare providers and patients. Reforms like increased tax exemption on preventive healthcare especially in women and geriatric population shall boost the family spending on health.
– Dr Narendra Vaidya, MD, Chief Joint Replacement & Spine Surgeon, Lokmanya Hospitals