Mobilenews24x7 Bureau
With nature playing truant and human making a pathetic departure from its own roots, illness load has become so surmounting each day reducing the majority to mere tools in the mercy of medicos and their sleeping partners like the drug industry.
High out of pocket expenses on health is impoverishing some 55 million Indians annually, with over 17 per cent households incurring catastrophic levels of health expenditures every year, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) report from March 2022.
What can be done to decrease this load? Many Indians are worried as the Covid epidemic cost them dear. However during that very epidemic the owner of a small nursing home pointed out that admission in his set up would cost much less than the big structures that have come up.
The Government has set the ball rolling with the generic drugs initiative. The public unfortunately ignores this thinking that the products are of low quality. They are not because a chemical remains the same whether generic or under a brand name.
The Right to Health Act of Rajasthan envisages increased role of the public sector infrastructure in health. It will seek to improve the quantity and quality of clinics in the Government sector.
It was in Rajasthan that an exercise in prescription audit was carried out in government hospitals that revealed more drugs were being prescribed than needed. There is also the issue of irrational drug combinations. These add to the costs without much benefit and are associated with adverse effects. We should also have outcome audits to eliminate harmful drugs and procedures.
Currently many governments are trying to provide health care at a lower cost. The hospitals under the AIIMS banner are providing good care at a very low cost. However the long lines to claim the benefits deter patients. This can be done away with by a system of bank transfer.
Even with all of this there is a problem; the huge rush in the government hospitals. The sight of patients queuing up from the previous night is common.
To really reduce costs the flow of patients must be reduced instead of trying to serve the sick population.
Thus there is need to think about keeping people healthy. More thought must be given to this neglected aspect. There is no dearth of knowledge as to what ensures health and what does not.
There is also the need to take care of patients at home through neighbourhood doctors. This tribe is disappearing. A group of doctors are reviving the family medicine practice. It needs encouragement. The family practitioner must ensure good health instead of attending to sick people.
The major part of family health expenses is expenses on medicine. Thus there is need to think about drugless approaches. Naturopathic practices and herbal/ kitchen remedies must be integrated.
