UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE: HIGH TIME INDIA ADOPTS IT IN LETTER AND SPIRIT

With proper governance and policies, universal health care can be the solution to the gap reduction between the rich and the poor, and every citizen being able to access the care they need.

- Dr. BS Ajaikumar

Universal Health Care (UHC) is a very important idea for the reforming of the healthcare industry, particularly in a nation such as India where there exist two mutually exclusive worlds in one nation. There exists a successful minority, constituted by affluent and upper-middle-class citizens who are progressively climbing the economic ladder. This segment enjoys the benefits of access to good education, successful career prospects, and, most importantly, a well-developed healthcare system that keeps them well-insured. In contrast, stands the overwhelming majority of India's population—disenfranchised, poor, and fighting to stay alive. This group, primarily residing in rural India and small towns, is grossly deprived of any sort of good health care. Health services are an unaffordable luxury for them, which leads to mass suffering, preventable illness, and eventually premature death.

In this context, Universal Health Care (UHC) emerges as a logical and required solution. UHC seeks to ensure equal access to good-quality health care for all citizens—regardless of their financial status— so that nobody is dissuaded by financial issues from availing necessary treatment. India's embracing of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) underlines the nation's responsibility towards ensuring equal health care to all its citizens. But in this commitment, the health infrastructure and policies of the country have not been completely instructed to the ideals of UHC. Various system-related problems inhibit India's health system from serving this purpose, and millions are deprived of proper care.