How can India ensure Universal Quality Healthcare for its citizens?
Universal health coverage means that all people have access to the health services they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship. According to Lancet 2018, India ranks 145th among 195 countries in terms of quality and accessibility of healthcare, behind its neighbours like China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan. This makes us vulnerable to a health crisis similar to Covid- 19, making it necessary to implement universal quality healthcare for all.
The first step towards ensuring universal quality healthcare is to tap market potential through universal Insurance of citizens against major and minor treatment and rehabilitation. Ayushman Bharat PMAY is a central government scheme focused on universal health insurance of Indian citizens.
Foreign investment can increase penetration of high quality healthcare in rural areas, ensuring universal healthcare in India. The government can create PPP models to make Government led private financed healthcare a reality.
India has a rich alternative medicine system, developed over centuries in Indian subcontinent. Promotion of AYUSH can promote universal healthcare.
India’s total spending on health (centre and state) stands at 3.6% of GDP. Centre’s spending is 1.3% of GDP. The average expenditure on health for OECD countries in 2018 was 8.8% of GDP. Developed nations—the US (16.9%), Germany (11.2%), France (11.2%) and Japan (10.9%)—spend even more. Thus, India needs to step up its expenditure on health to achieve universal healthcare.
There is one doctor for every 1,445 Indians as per the country's current population estimate of 135 crore, which is lower than the WHO's prescribed norm of one doctor for 1,000 people. This is considering all doctors in the country. If we consider only government doctors, the ratio deteriorates to 1:11082, which is one-eleventh of WHO norm. Universal healthcare needs improvement in the ratio to enable universal access to free and quality healthcare.
Universal healthcare is not only a necessity and an expenditure. It is also a source of great revenue for the economy in the form of tele medicine and medical tourism. Thus, expenditure on UHC needs to be taken as an investment for larger future returns