National Doctor Day

Why Health is Wealth?

You might have heard of this quote which says Health is the greatest wealth. Why Health comes under essential services? Why has the Gym become so popular in modern-day life? It is because a healthy personality exists in a healthy body.

Do you know that we celebrate Doctor Day in memory of the great Physician Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy?

• He was a physician, freedom fighter, educationist, and a political leader.
• He was a friend to our father of nation; Mahatma Gandhi.
• He won the highest civilian award: – Bharat Ratna

We celebrate Doctor Day in memory of this great Physician in India. It reminds us the immense contribution of Doctors and Healthcare workers to our healthy lives.

Indian Health Care System

As per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India’s ratio of Doctor to Patient is 1:834. This ratio is better than the World Health Organization’s recommendations of 1:1000. However, the government data includes the Allopathic doctors and Ayush doctors along with the medical doctors.

India’s Potential in Health Sector

India sometimes known as “The World’s Pharmacy” as it produces Life-saving drugs and essential kits to the world at cheaper prices. Hyderabad city of Telangana famous for producing Pharmaceuticals is tagged as “Vaccine capital of the world”. India recently became part of a global vaccine-producing alliance called Gavi. We are welcoming modern technologies like Telemedicine in the field of medical systems. This will boost rural accessibility and inclusivity. New medical colleges are being set up across the states. 23 AIIMS have been planned to set up in different states. 20 of them are currently operating. Indian healthcare is expected to grow in the future, as factors like insurance access, income rise, health consciousness, and awareness are on the rise.

India is well known for medical tourism. According to Medical Tourism Magazine India ranks 6th in the medical tourism Industry.

Reasons for having low medical doctors: – Several Studies suggest lack of doctors at Primary Health Care across states contrary to the government claims. The Demand – Supply gap has persisted in India for a long time. Despite the increase in Undergraduate and Post-Graduate seats in medical colleges.

Few Medical educational institutes: – Most of these institutions are privately owned and charge exorbitant fees. It restricts the lower and middle-class income from pursuing a career.

Emigration: – The lack of living standards and Infrastructure compel the brightest doctors to fly outside the country.

Low Health Care Spending: – India spends approximately 2.5% of its GDP on Healthcare compared to the developed nation which spends mostly in double digits on its health care system.

The need of the hour?

More Medical Institutes: – Govt should increase the number of medical institutions to increase medical seats. The government should pay equal focus on producing quality as well as quantity doctors.

Percentage of GDP on Healthcare:- The Government should increase the percentage of GDP on medical care and make care accessible to all sections of society.

Transparency of Exam Administration: The examining body should be transparent in its selection process. Recent NEET scam pointed towards the deteriorating nature of the selection process.

Pandemic: –  Global healthcare has been severely criticized for the failure to detain the coronavirus pandemic. Indian Healthcare struggled too. The loopholes in the Indian health care system were clearly visible as Human resources and infrastructure were running in shortages. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) puts the death toll in India at more than fifty-three Lakh.

This was not the first-time humanity faced a pandemic on such a large scale. Spanish Flu, which was declared a Pandemic in the Past, caused the death of approximately 5.4% of the population globally. There might be another one right in the corner. We should always be ready for this cyclical process. Therefore, lessons from the past and effective implementation in the future become crucial.

Government Efforts

Indian Government is successfully running many schemes for the healthy development of its citizens. Some noteworthy schemes are named as Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Jan Aushadi Pariyojna (PM-BJAP), Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (PM-JAY).

These schemes are launched to provide affordable and quality medicine to the public. However, all these initiatives without a considerable number of doctors cannot be successful. The need of the education system today is to nurture doctors for a healthy tomorrow. It will help India achieve the third sustainable development goal ‘good health and wellbeing’ propounded by the World Health Organization.

Written by: Aijaz Hussain