Question

why is health situation a matter of major concern in india? what steps need to be taken to tackle this situation?

Answer 1

Majority of Indian are still very poor. For them even basic health care is out of reach. Health care is a state subject and the less said about the way it runs, the better. Medical care under private sector is way beyond the reach of poor people. Basic medical insurance for all, is still a dream. Very few can afford to pay for insurance that covers the most prevalent but most costly diseases/disorders like cancer or emphysema. TB, which is contracted mainly due to poor living conditions & malnutrition, is still out of control.

Primary Health Centres (PHCs) located across the country are notoriously short-staffed and short-stocked. While the poor suffer from diseases born out of malnutrition, pollution, bad hygiene, bad water, bad air, tobacco and liquor, the educated class suffers from over-eating, over-drinking and bad lifestyle. You can add drugs too to the list of woes India suffers from. There is no sense of cleanliness even at individual level despite the ever-increasing incidence of malaria of the fatal falciparum strain which was once only endemic to certain areas.

For the state governments, liquor and tobacco are cash cows, they do not want to ban liquor. They do not care to ban tobacco in spite of mounting oral & lung cancers. The cost of treating such diseases is way beyond the money states earns on this stuff. Since the states have practically ignored their responsibility for health care, the lot of such poor people is pathetic.

We can add air pollution including noise pollution and pesticide poisoning to the list of woes. Overuse of pesticides and chemicals is damaging health of Indians. India is the top country to rely on ground water (65%) despite plentiful rain that goes waste. Falling water tables only worsen arsenic & fluoride poisoning. Finally, there is absolutely no check on industries and factories that poison land & water with their effluents. Pollution control is next to nil in India.