India should prepare strategy to prevent emerging & chronic diseases

In the last few years, it has been noticed that there is a shortfall in the specialist at some places. Adequate doctors, nurses and other health cadres are missing from hospitals which need them the most. This further deteriorates the quality of care which is today majorly palpable in government run hospitals. The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) numbers show a decrease in the use of public hospitals over the past two decades—only 32 percent of urban Indians use them now, compared with 43 percent in 1995-96. Hence, this makes human resources another challenge which has creates roadblocks towards a healthy India. The shortage of qualified medical professionals is one of the key challenges facing the Indian health care.

Another challenge Indian health sector faces are in terms of infrastructure. India’s health infrastructure is poor compared to other developing and large countries. India has one bed for every 1,050 patients. To match the country’s healthcare need, India needs to add more beds to its hospitals. Many health advocates have raised the issue of India’s minimal spending of its GDP on healthcare sector which has further made it difficult for public hospitals to provide quality services. 

Also, India’s expenditure health care technology and IT is considerably low. Hospitals in India will need to increase their IT spend considerably to provide improved and patient-centric service. Investment in Indian healthcare sector is the need of the hour.

In the last few years, the Indian government has taken many positive steps to promote the health sector in India. Rolling out of National Health Assurance Mission has been one such step towards reducing the out of pocket spending on health care by the common man. The program also comes with a vision of universal access to equitable, affordable and quality health care services to all the population of India especially rural areas. Under the scheme which provides free of cost access to services such as child health, maternal health, treatment of leprosy, tuberculosis amongst others has creates a positive environment in the country. 

The National Health Assurance Mission aims to provide free drugs, diagnostic services and insurance for serious ailments for India's 1.2 billion people. Though the government has cut back on the investments in the plan recently, the plan still has great potential and will be proved positive for Indian population. 

The budget for FY 2017-18 will be important for the health sector. One of the issues that need to be addressed includes a strategy for the prevention of emerging threats and chronic diseases. Government should also work towards creating a highly advance healthcare which is based on technology and can easily tackle risk factors of various diseases and help building a healthy healthcare sector. While a large part of India still is dependent on the primary health care, government hospitals still suffer the brunt of budget. 

Last year the government allocated funds for the New Health Protection Scheme which aimed to provide health cover to every family, however, there is a need to increase the awareness about the scheme and generate a stronger network and guarantee the accessibility of the scheme. This step can save lakhs of life each year. Crafting plans to help the poor get the immediate access healthcare, investing and promoting in The National Health Assurance Mission and spreading awareness about the non-communicable diseases in India are the need of the hour. 
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Sadanand Bapat is the director of Sahyadri Hospitals