This is the story of India in almost all fields – pockets of excellence but rank callousness in everything else. Perhaps primary health is one of the worst, followed by education, sanitation, pollution. The list is long.
Dr. K Sujatha Rao’s book ‘Do We Care – India’s Health System’, published by Oxford University Press in January 2017, is a stinging attack on the lack of vision for a healthy Indian state even after 70 years of Independence. India’s HDI (human development index) global ranking hovers around 130 to 140. If India is to be ashamed of anything, it is this ranking.
The author wrote this book after she retired as a top bureaucrat in the ministry of health and family welfare, so the facts and context is highly current. After she retired, she says she was able to have a ‘citizen’s perspective’ to healthcare owes. It’s a pleasant surprise to see an activist tone throughout the book. Hope it rubs off on her bureaucrat friends and colleagues, who might influence their bosses into coming up with a robust health policy.
This story is from the February 2017 edition of Sustainability Next.
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This story is from the February 2017 edition of Sustainability Next.
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