Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari on Wednesday said affordability of health care is a serious problem for the vast majority of the population, especially in tertiary care.
"The lack of extensive and adequately funded public health services pushes large numbers of people to incur heavy out of pocket expenditures on services purchased from the private sector," he added in his addresses at fifth foundation day and second convocation of the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences.
Vice President Ansari said healthcare infrastructure gaps remain substantial and are exacerbated by underutilisation of existing resources.
"The situation is further aggravated by the inequity in healthcare delivery across states and demographic segments. Rural areas are especially poorly served. Around seventy percent of our population lives in rural areas but only two percent qualified doctors are available in these areas," he added.
He said healthcare workforce remains inadequate and underutilised.
Vice President Ansari further said regulatory standards for public and private hospitals are not adequately defined and, in any case, are ineffectively enforced.
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"A well functioning and effective regulatory system is required to manage the large and diverse set of healthcare service providers," he added.
Vice President Ansari said the healthcare costs are expected to rise because, with rising life expectancy, a larger proportion of our population will become vulnerable to chronic Non-Communicable Diseases which typically require expensive treatment.
"My intention in spelling out the myriad challenges before us in the healthcare sector was not to devalue the work done or underestimate the progress made since independence. My purpose is to underscore the unfinished agenda that is before us, especially for you all who work in this field," said Vice President Ansari.
In view of the large population size and the stark social and economic realities of our country, the healthcare system, especially the doctors, have performed to the best of their ability. We are thankful for the services rendered and proud of the work done by them," hr added.
Vice President Ansari said, however, much more needs to be done before we can attain the long-term objective of universal health coverage, which has been defined as ensuring equitable access for all Indian citizens in any part of the country, regardless of income level, social status, gender, caste or religion, to affordable, accountable and appropriate, assured quality health services (promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative), with the government being the guarantor and enabler, although not necessarily the only provider of health and related services.
"The realisation of this objective will require filling the existing gaps in healthcare spending, infrastructure and workforce by increasing significantly the resources deployed and better utilisation of existing ones. Issues of availability, affordability and quality need to be addressed," Vice President Ansari said.
"Our healthcare system will have to be prepared to cater to a much higher demand for healthcare services as inclusive growth will raise incomes and living standards for all sections of society," he added.
Vice President Ansari said the bulk of the population today relies upon private sector health providers, paying amounts which they cannot afford, because of the inadequate reach of the public sector.
"There must be substantial expansion and strengthening of the public sector health care system if we are to meet the health needs of rural and even urban areas. As supply in the public sector increases, it will free the vulnerable sections of society from dependence on high cost and often unreachable private sector health care," he added.
The Vice President said the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences is a fine example of what the public sector can do and must do in the actualization of our desired goal to have a universal health coverage and thereby ensure healthy and economically productive population.
"I am happy to have been invited for this ceremony to mark the 5th Foundation Day and 2nd Convocation of the Institute for Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS). I congratulate the management, staff, students, faculty, alumni and all others connected with the Institute on this joyous occasion. I extend my warm felicitations to the students who are graduating today. It is their hard work and dedication which has brought them to this stage in their academic life. Their journey in life, beyond the portals of the Institute, begins now," he added.