Rural Health Care: India: Article: Taking health care to rural areas
The publicly funded health infrastructure in India is in a bad shape. However, the private corporate hospitals and super speciality centres catering to the urban rich are having a field day literally. ‘The rural health care sector in India, which has a ratio of one hospital bed for every 1333 citizens has become “nobody’s child”. With most of the medical specialists working in urban areas, villages have virtually no access to super speciality treatment close to their homes.
A recent study conducted by the Indian Institute of Public Opinion reveals that 88.8% of the rural patients in India have to travel 8 kms to access medical treatment of some sort. The remaining 11.1 percent have to travel further. Similarly, a World Bank study indicates that more than 40 percent of the Indians are forced to borrow money or sell assets when they are hospitalised. Strongly advocating the need to strengthen and expand the public health care centres, the World Bank study has recommended allocation of more resources and stepped up activities in the areas of supervisor, monitoring results and increased public accountability. It has also urged a vastly improved investment on disease surveillance, public health monitoring and information system.
