We still have a long way to go

On Saturday, 4th March, I attended a book discussion at IIC, New Delhi where Dr. Devi Shetty, a famous public health practitioner was one of the speakers. The major takeaway from the session was that there’s a double whammy of a lack of trained medical professionals and low penetration of health insurance in India.?

He highlighted an important aspect of the lack of access to affordable public health. The idea that once we become a developed country, every other aspect of our socioeconomic indicators will automatically?improve is not true to a great extent. The biggest example is the US. Despite being a developed nation, access to healthcare?is a major concern due to its unaffordability.

The analogy that he drew, caught my attention. His explanation was that until and unless we dissociate healthcare from affluence, we wouldn’t be able to reach the glory and growth that we wish for, as a country.?

Just like we have dissociated communication and entertainment from wealth and social status, we need to do the same for healthcare. Nowadays, almost everyone has a smartphone for communication, be it the richest of the rich or the poorest of the poor. The kind of smartphones people have might differ, but at least everyone has some kind of access to communication, be it a secondhand smartphone or an iPhone. Similarly, everybody has access to entertainment, whether through a smart TV or a normal TV.?

However, we cannot say the exact same thing about healthcare. Not everyone has access to at least some kind of healthcare. The out-of-pocket health expenditure for India still stands at as high as 48%.?

A Niti Aayog report highlighted that despite having the ability to pay some amount of premiums, about 30% of the population in India does not have access to health insurance. The main reason for this is the absence of low-cost health insurance products.

This is the case of the missing middle where a certain section of the population is not eligible for government coverage of poor people as well as cannot afford to pay high amounts of premiums for health insurance.?

The issue of accessibility to healthcare further worsens when we bring the gendered angle into the scenario. NFHS-5 has revealed that at least 60% of women face trouble accessing healthcare.

Issues range from lack of adequate female healthcare professionals, medications, and patriarchal mindsets.?

• 31% of women reported the absence of female healthcare professionals as a barrier to healthcare access.
• Only 51.6% of women are allowed to go alone to a health facility.

The gender disparities in utilizing health insurance are also stark. Females account for only 33% of insurance claims among children and 43% among the elderly.

Making healthcare accessible is one of the key highlights of the century if we are aiming to become the country that wants to shine with all its glory.

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