Discuss the main drawbacks of our health care system.

Health care as an emerging challange : Following observations highlight the drawbacks or deficiencies (or emerging challange) of our social infrastructure in term of health facilities:

1. Unequal distribution of health care services : Distribution of health care services is extremely unequal across rural and urban sectors of the country. It is clear from the following facts :

(i) While 70 percent of the country's population lives in rural areas, 80% of the hospitals are located in urban areas i.e. only one fifth (20%) of total hospitals are located in rural areas.

(ii) The PHCs (Primary Health Centres) in rural areas do not offer even X-ray or blood-testing facilities.

(iii) Out of 7 lakh beds, roughly 11% are available in rural areas.

(iv) There are only 0.36 percent hospitals for every one lakh people in rural areas while urban areas have 3.6 hospitals for the same number of people.

(v) Villagers have no access to any specialised medical care like pediatrics, gynaecology, anaesthesia and obsletrics.

(vi) There are shortage of doctors in rural areas.

2. Poor-rich divide : There is also poor-rich divide in health care infrastructure. It is clear from the following facts:

1. The poorest-20 percent of Indians living in both urban and rural areas spend 12% of their income on health care while the rich spend only 2 percent.

2. Many poor people have to sell their land or even pledge their children to afford medical treatment.

3. Gender Bias (Poor health of women) :

Women constitute about half of the total population. They suffer from a serious neglect in the areas of health care. More than 50% of women in India in the age group of 15-49 suffer from nutritional deficiency. Female foeticide is a common practice causing a decline in sex ratio.

4. High GBD : Global burden of diseases is an indicator used by experts to gauge the numbers of people dying prematurely due to a particular disease and the number of years spent by them in a state of disability owing to disease. As for India is concerned, it bears 20% of the global burden of disease. In India, more than half of GBD is accounted for communicable diseases such as diarrhoea, malaria and T.B.

5. Poor sanitation level : Sanitation level is extremely poor both in the rural and urban areas in India. It is found that nearly 30 percent of the houses have no toilet facilities in the urban areas. In the urban slums, sanitation is absolutely poor and the slum-dwellers are living in a hell-like polluted atmosphere. Rural sanitation is still worse.

6. Other problems related to health facilities : Communicable diseases is rising their ugly heads and posing a serious threat to the society. The government is gradually moving towards privatisation of health care services. Consequently health care is becoming increasingly expensive. Moreover health personnel are grossly inadequate particularly in the rural areas.