Introduction-
We often use the phrase “health is wealth” in many of our conversations. But little do we actually take that phrase into consideration. Most of us take our health as something that is not so important and can be taken care of in case of an emergency.
But whether it is possible to care about it in emergencies, largely depends on the condition of public health services in India, on which most of us rely on for our health and wellbeing. The question of it being reliable enough for us, finds its answer in the following article.
LITERATURE REVIEW
The article “Issues of Unequal Access to Public Health in India” shows that many people still face difficulties in accessing healthcare services. “Access to Public Healthcare System in India” highlights the importance of public hospitals and discusses problems such as limited resources and infrastructure. “Public Health Challenges in India: Seizing the Opportunities” explains that a strong public health system is necessary for improving the health of the population. Similarly, “Unveiling the ABCs: Identifying India’s Healthcare Service Gaps” and “The Barriers to Universal Health Coverage in India” discuss challenges related to healthcare access, affordability, and service quality. Together, these studies show that improving public health services is important for providing better healthcare to all citizens.
RESEARCH GAP
The above discussed literature focuses on healthcare policies, infrastructure, expenditure, and access barriers. However, it provides limited view whether citizens actually experience healthcare services as accessible, affordable and reliable. Therefore, there is a need to examine people’s perception based on their on ground experiences, regarding public healthcare facilities and how they can be improved.
ANALYSIS
The experiences of people are extremely subjective in all matters. The same goes with healthcare. To understand their different experiences and to fill the above mentioned research gap, an online survey was conducted. The survey was open to all and it received 35 responses in total.
To begin with, lets understand accessibility. It is understood as how much something, which is available to all, is reachable to someone. In the case of healthcare, we do see many healthcare initiatives that have been taken in our country since the past few years. However, when the survey asked the question about how many people had to travel far away from their hometown to access these facilities, then the answer came out to be that 22.9% travelled frequently, while 37.1% travelled sometimes.
This makes a major argument that, there might be a gap in the implementation of reasonable healthcare facilities in every city in India, equally. This is an issue to be addressed on large scale, as this does create major problem to people, especially during healthcare emergencies.
The next reason for better healthcare services is the questionable quality of hospitals in our country. Nearly, 28.6% of people considered the facilities and services in government hospitals as average, while 20% considered them poor. Alongside, when they were asked to vote on a measure in their opinion, that would improve healthcare the most, then 34.3% of people considered getting better trained medical staff.
The quality of something as vulnerable as healthcare facilities matters the most and when people don’t get these in trusted government hospitals, then they look into private hospitals. A place, which brings another problem into picture.
Affordability is a major concern when it comes to healthcare. When health has a high cost, it can make people question even their basic rights. According to the survey, 31.4% of people think that private hospitals are expensive, while 20% of them consider it as extremely expensive for themselves.
This can not only make people hesitant towards healthcare but also, many people might not go to any hospital at all, considering the expenses that go into it, which is another major problem.
Lastly, the question remains of awareness among people regarding healthcare. According to the survey, 40% of people think that there is moderate awareness regarding healthcare in India.
Bringing better public health services in the country will eventually contribute to awareness and will make the above listed problems a lot lesser in real life.
CONCLUSION
Healthcare is not only about the availability of hospitals and medical facilities but also about people’s ability to access and benefit from them. The findings of this study suggest that improvements in affordability, accessibility, and service quality are still needed. Therefore, investing in better public health services is essential for ensuring the well-being of citizens and the long-term development of the country.
REFERENCES
- Survey Form:
- https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfTXAX0U4ElrLQsnHTPFiQqoValOCmSv9GGK8OpSNaBDAYI1A/viewform?usp=publish-editor
- Research Articles:
- Issues of Unequal Access to Public Health in India – PMC
- Public Health Challenges in India: Seizing the Opportunities – PMC
- Unveiling the ABCs: Identifying India’s Healthcare Service Gaps – PMC
- The Barriers to Universal Health Coverage in India and the Strategies to Address Them: A Key Informant Study – PMC
