Factbox: State Of Play Of India’s Healthcare Sector Exposed By COVID-19

New Delhi: The COVID-19 pandemic has forced India to urgently try and revitalise its health infrastructure, especially after a record rise in infections and deaths exposed years of neglect. Here are some facts and figures on health in India, based on data from the government, the World Bank and research reports.

Money

* Public and private healthcare spending in India is estimated to be about 3.5 per cent of GDP, one of the lowest in the world. The corresponding figure for the United States is about 17 per cent and about 10 per cent for India’s fellow developing country Brazil.

* The federal government’s public health spending ranges from 1 per cent to 1.5 per cent, though Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration has vowed to lift it to 2.5 per cent by 2024/25. Health experts want it to go to 3 per cent.

Also Read: After Seven Decades Of Independence, Why Is Health Still Not A Fundamental Right In India?

* India spends about $75 per capita on healthcare, compared with about $800 by Brazil and about $11,000 by the United States.

* More than 60 per cent of all healthcare spending in India is out of pocket, much higher than Brazil’s about 27 per cent and about 11 per cent for the United States.

Infrastructure, Personnel, Pledges

* India has just about one hospital bed per 1,000 people. The corresponding number for Brazil is more than two and nearly three for the United States.

* India has only about one doctor per 1,000 people, compared with more than two for both Brazil and the United States.

* Prime Minister Narendra Modi says India will produced more doctors in the next decade or so than it did in the first seven decades of the country’s independence in 1947.

* The government has pledged to build many new hospitals and upgrade existing ones in the next few years with the investment of around $9 billion. The poor eastern state of Bihar plans to build by next year some 1,600 new hospitals at the cost of about $500 million.

* Modi’s government, states and government-run companies have provided funds for hospitals so that all of India’s nearly 750 districts have at least one oxygen-generation plant. Some 4,000 of them have been commissioned in recent months.

Also Read: Opinion: Public Health Nutrition Priorities- Disrupted But Not Defeated By COVID-19

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity,  that is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.