Public Health Is Critical

While private hospitals aim at providing world-class treatment and care, government hospitals in India are still lagging behind owing to lack of funds and skilled manpower.

- Gunjan Sharma

In August, Dana Majhi, a resident of Melghar village in Kalahandi district of Odisha, became ‘breaking news’ as he walked 10km carrying his dead wife, Amang Dei, on his shoulders. The fact that the hospital where she died of tuberculosis could not get him an ambulance was just a minor, though tragic, part of the infirmities that plague the health care system in India.

In June, 16 patients reported vision loss after cataract surgery at a government hospital in Salem district, Tamil Nadu. The loss of vision was owing to an infection post surgery.

Around 3,000 children die of malnutrition in India every day. Lakhs of them suffer and succumb to diarrhoea, a disease associated directly with drinking water and sanitation. India has the highest number of child (under five years) deaths in the world. Thousands of mothers die during and after childbirth.

This in a country that boasts hi-end technology, state-of-the-art laboratories and operation theatres, one that is best in patient care in the private sector and takes pride in its premium medical institutes such as the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (New Delhi), the Christian Medical College (Vellore) and the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (Chandigarh). India’s medical tourism was worth US$ 3 billion last year and is growing. Indian hospitals are treating patients from across the world including some European countries as well.