Accessibility either to the hospitals or medicines would remain a distant dream for about 70 per cent of the Indians particularly in rural India until at least 2040 according to the report brought out by the ASSOCHAM Council on healthcare and hospitals.
The report points out that India has an average 0.6 doctors per 1000 population against the global average of 1.23 which suggests an evident manpower gap. The healthcare infrastructure in India is highly inadequate comparing global standards. It lags far behind the global average in terms of healthcare infrastructure and manpower.
The major barriers to healthcare accessibility observed by the report includes limited means of transportation, infrastructure, cost of healthcare and gender discrimination which makes women the less privileged section with regards to healthcare and more vulnerable to various diseases and associated mortality.
While in China the doctors density (number 1000) is 1.7, in India it is 0.6, 2.7 in the US and 2.1 in the UK. The hospitals bed density in China is 3.0, India is 1.27, US 3.1 and UK 3.9.
India’s healthcare spending is significantly low when compared to the global, developed and other similar emerging economies. The Indian healthcare spending is less than half the global average in percentage terms when compared on a “per cent of GDP” basis. The figures are as follows: India 4.10 per cent, China 4.30 per cent, Brazil 8.40 per cent, UK 8.40 per cent, Global 9.70 per cent and US 15.70 per cent.
The healthcare spending, when compared on the basis of public-private contribution, also depicts a skewed picture. Private sector contribution to the healthcare sector at ~75 per cent is amongst the highest in the world in percentage terms. Public spending, on the other hand, is amongst the lowest in the world and is ~23 percentage points lower than the global average.
The public healthcare spending in India is 26.20 per cent where as in China it is 44.70 per cent, Brazil registers 41.8 per cent, UK’s is 81.70 per cent, Global 59.60 per cent, US 45.50 per cent. The private healthcare spending in India is 73.80 per cent where as in China it is 55.30 per cent, Brazil 58.40 per cent, UK 18.30 per cent, Global 40.40 per cent, and US 54.50 per cent.
Moreover, the healthcare spending examined by ASSOCHAM on a per capita basis, both in terms of US dollars (at average exchange rate conversion) and in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP), is amongst the lowest globally. Further, when compared to the global average, the per capita Indian healthcare spend is ~95 percent lower on an average exchange rate basis and ~87 per cent lower on a PPP basis.
Thus there is a long way to go before India achieves the dream of healthcare for all.
EH News Bureau
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