‘Need more docs & PHCs to face health challenges’
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Chennai:04.08.2019
WHO chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan cycles very often in Geneva, but in her hometown in Chennai she dreads taking her bicycle out, except on weekend mornings, she told a handful of audience, here on Saturday.
The audience comprising senior doctors, health activists and legal experts laughed, but that line summed up the panel discussion, ‘Is India’s vision on healthcare holistic?’, organized by the Chennai International Centre. Insufficient primary health care (PHC) services, scanty human resources and public health policies that don’t meet current needs are some of the challenges facing the healthcare in India, experts said.
“India is ill-prepared to take on the burden of diseases,” she said in her opening remarks. “In Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the shift of burden from communicable disease to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) happened in the 1990s. In Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, Odisha, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, the number of deaths due to NCDs is more than 50%. Yet. many states are not prepared for the new challenge,” she said. “Countries, including Sri Lanka, Bangaldesh, Nepal and Brazil, have better longevity compared to India,” she added.
Former Union health secretary Kesav Desiraju said scarcity of human resources – doctors, nurses, mid-wives and allied health workers – across the country is affecting healthcare services. “We have fewer human resources than we need, and they are not in places where we need them most,” he said. Although more than 70,000 people pass out of medical colleges, not many join government service. “Many mid-wives aren’t able to conduct deliveries. We need innovative policies. The syllabus for nurses hasn’t changed in more than 60 years,” he said.
Health economist and researcher Shailender Swaminathan said the government should monitor outcomes of treatment in private hospitals empanelled under insurance schemes. “Many countries, including the US, monitor performances,” he said. The out-ofpocket expenditure on healthcare too hasn’t come down substantially in many states, he added.
Experts said government’s focus on healthcare should be beyond hospitals. Pointing out the Thailand health model promoting home dialysis, Dr Swaminathan said states here are outsourcing dialysis units in district hospitals to private sector. “There is growing evidence to show that this isn’t making a difference,” she said.
At the end of the session, moderated by Reach director Dr Nalini Krishnan, panellists said India should think of innovative policies such as providing healthy food through PDS system, levying tax on sugar, tobacco and alcohol for health awareness, improving data collection and research, and providing better environment for better lifestyle.
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Chennai:04.08.2019
WHO chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan cycles very often in Geneva, but in her hometown in Chennai she dreads taking her bicycle out, except on weekend mornings, she told a handful of audience, here on Saturday.
The audience comprising senior doctors, health activists and legal experts laughed, but that line summed up the panel discussion, ‘Is India’s vision on healthcare holistic?’, organized by the Chennai International Centre. Insufficient primary health care (PHC) services, scanty human resources and public health policies that don’t meet current needs are some of the challenges facing the healthcare in India, experts said.
“India is ill-prepared to take on the burden of diseases,” she said in her opening remarks. “In Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the shift of burden from communicable disease to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) happened in the 1990s. In Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, Odisha, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, the number of deaths due to NCDs is more than 50%. Yet. many states are not prepared for the new challenge,” she said. “Countries, including Sri Lanka, Bangaldesh, Nepal and Brazil, have better longevity compared to India,” she added.
Former Union health secretary Kesav Desiraju said scarcity of human resources – doctors, nurses, mid-wives and allied health workers – across the country is affecting healthcare services. “We have fewer human resources than we need, and they are not in places where we need them most,” he said. Although more than 70,000 people pass out of medical colleges, not many join government service. “Many mid-wives aren’t able to conduct deliveries. We need innovative policies. The syllabus for nurses hasn’t changed in more than 60 years,” he said.
Health economist and researcher Shailender Swaminathan said the government should monitor outcomes of treatment in private hospitals empanelled under insurance schemes. “Many countries, including the US, monitor performances,” he said. The out-ofpocket expenditure on healthcare too hasn’t come down substantially in many states, he added.
Experts said government’s focus on healthcare should be beyond hospitals. Pointing out the Thailand health model promoting home dialysis, Dr Swaminathan said states here are outsourcing dialysis units in district hospitals to private sector. “There is growing evidence to show that this isn’t making a difference,” she said.
At the end of the session, moderated by Reach director Dr Nalini Krishnan, panellists said India should think of innovative policies such as providing healthy food through PDS system, levying tax on sugar, tobacco and alcohol for health awareness, improving data collection and research, and providing better environment for better lifestyle.
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