THE HEALTHCARE DIAGNOSIS

AS INDIA APPROACHES 2029, CRITICAL DECISIONS LIE AHEAD FOR ITS HEALTHCARE, PHARMA, AND DIAGNOSTICS INDUSTRIES. DESPITE SOME PROGRESS, UNRESOLVED CHALLENGES PERSIST, NECESSITATING A WELL-DEFINED FIVE-YEAR AGENDA FROM THE GOVERNMENT

- NEETU CHANDRA SHARMA

IMAGINE AN INDIA where everyone can access advanced and affordable healthcare, pop the latest pills made by Indian laboratories at Indian prices, and get their blood work or brain scans from diagnostics facilities that do not gouge them.

Wait! Don’t go away! We can work towards that vision over the next five years, given the rapid advances in healthcare, pharma and communications technologies and how the sector attracts foreign investment.

Today, Indian healthcare exists in two landscapes. In urban India, gleaming hospitals sprout every other day, and reputable government hospitals such as AIIMS New Delhi serve over 7,000 outpatients daily. The pharmaceutical industry has gained a name worldwide (and many companies have manufacturing facilities across the globe). Almost all the latest diagnostic tests are available in this India.

In the other landscape, basic healthcare is a dream: Primary health centres remain unmanned, snakebite victims give up the ghost under the local quack, and district government hospitals refer routine cases to medical colleges, which are supposed to be for tertiary care.

Can India improve healthcare? What should the new government I due in June this year prescribe?

ROAD MAP TO A HEALTHIER FUTURE

Rural India is not in the pink of health. The government says the doctor-patient ratio is 1:847, which means one doctor for every 847 people. This looks better than the World Health Organization’s recommended ratio of 1:1000, but the Indian ratio factors in 565,000 AYUSH doctors apart from the 1.3 million or so allopathic doctors.

Indians also report an alarming 60% out-of-pocket expenditure on healthcare, one of the highest globally, going by the World Bank’s numbers. A surge in chronic diseases adds to the stress on the healthcare system.