Posted On: 2021-11-29 16:45:23
Health care- the maintenance of or the improvement of the health of a person through various treatments, preventions of diseases, diagnosis or cure of disease is an essential facility that cannot be compromised at any cost. It is a right of every person to have access to quality health care as it improves life. Yet, many people worldwide seldom get to use it.
WHY SO?
Health care provisions in India show a wide spectrum of contrasting outcomes -at one end we see intriguing glass structures as hospitals that provide high tech medical facilities while at the other end some of the basic medications and medical equipment is not easily accessible in remote hospitals, sometimes in government hospitals as well. Well, this inconsistency is dreadful for a country with a population of 138 crores, which also is one of the causes of poor public health facilities especially among the underprivileged sectors of society.
Lack of Awareness
Not many people are aware of the fact that health is a fundamental right of every citizen of India. Right to health care provision is incorporated in the Constitution under the Right to Life under Article 21; guaranteeing everyone’s right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. The primary reason for inadequate knowledge about health care in the Indian population is low because of lack of awareness and poor functional literacy.
Low priority to health care in the system itself adds to the reach of inadequate knowledge about its accessibility. Even after being aware of the benefits of quality health care, many cannot afford it and choose to ignore it which leads to extreme health conditions.
Shortfall of Infrastructure
India has a three-tier health care system- Primary (Devolved to cities and municipality) Secondary (provided by physicians with basic health training) and Tertiary (Medical centres, regional and provincial hospitals, and specialized hospitals.) Despite the fact that the system is efficiently sub-divided, it has been struggling in the form of a lack of well-equipped medical institutes. As per a recent article in the Economic Times, the availability of free medicines in public healthcare facilities for inpatient care has declined from 31.2 per cent to 8.9 per cent in two decades. The availability of hospital beds, apparatus, surgery equipment is lowering constantly.
Accumulation of poor medical infrastructure for years has shaken the Indian health care system during this pandemic. Patients lost their lives as they were waiting for hospital beds, oxygen cylinders and ventilators. Years of a working health care system was not sufficient to handle rapidly increasing positive COVID cases due to poor management.
Poverty
Expensive health care forced lakhs of people in the country towards poverty. Besides, more than 80 per cent of the population does not have any significant health insurance coverage and 68 per cent of the people have limited or no access to essential medicines.
67 per cent of the healthcare spending of Indian people is just on medicines. The rest goes for doctor fees, hospitalization, laboratory tests, injectables, vitamin supplements and other OTC drugs.
In India, nearly 30 per cent of the total population or 42 crores citizens do not have health insurance. This is mainly because of low monetary support and a lack of awareness about health insurance and its benefits.
All of these together and in majority cases, poverty alone becomes a reason for people to not have access to medical care as and when needs arise. Hence, many curable diseases are left untreated resulting in deaths.
How can WE as individuals can help and change this scenario?
Years of an ill health care system will require a lot of dedication from all ends to improve the situation. But as individuals, we can start small and aim big. Poverty is the major cause why many people in India today are unable to get medical aid.
Financial aid through crowdfunding can be a great way to meet the ends.
Filaantro is one such reliable crowdfunding platform that raises funds online for social causes and helps those in need.
A 25 day old baby of Mrs Smitha and Mr Viswan was born in the 29th week of pregnancy; the baby was low weight and required ventilator support along with extensive care. He was immediately shifted to the NICU in Lourdes hospital, Kochi. Doctors suggested keeping the baby in the NICU for 1 month. The estimated cost of the treatment is Rs. 4,30,000 /- (Rupees Four Lakh Thirty Thousand only).
Mr Viswan (Father) is the only earning member in the family but unfortunately lost his job during the pandemic. The pandemic and joblessness had hit the family hard and left them penniless. Child Help Foundation’s crowdfunding partner Filaantro started a campaign to raise funds online for the baby and successfully raised the amount required. Mrs Smitha and Mr Viswan were able to pay for the treatment within time.
With your efforts and contribution, an innocent life was saved. We can save many more lives and be there for the people who need it the most. Visit our website today to help and support many more helpless lives.
https://filaantro.org/
Author : Anjali Patel
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