Current Affairs 7th Class

Category : 7th Class

Role of the State Government in Health Care

In a democracy, the government needs to look after its people's welfare. This means that the government does not merely collect tax and protect life and property, but also works for the growth of the people by promoting health, education, shelter, food and water. Likewise, India's government too takes care of the welfare of its people. Improved health status of the citizens is of great economic value to a nation.

The word 'health' comes from the old English word 'hale', meaning 'whole' or 'being whole, sound or well'. 'Health' as defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) is being in a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. In order to be called 'healthy', one has to be free from illness, injury, malnutrition and mental stress. In order to achieve health, appropriate health care system needs to be in place which would include people like doctors, surgeons, nursing staff, paramedics and medical attendants; institutions such as hospitals, clinics, laboratories for tests and blood banks; and resources like medicines, drugs and medicinal equipment.

HEALTHCARE IN INDIA

According to the Indian Constitution, 'It is the primary duty of the government in all states and UTs to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living of its people and improve public health.' In India, the government takes care to improve both public health and personal health. To improve public health, the government's plans include mass immunisation like the Pulse Polio Programme, promoting preventive medicines and improving the health status of rural population. In addition, the government also focuses on programmes of health education

The State Owned Health Facilities:

?      Regional Cancer Centres Health: Cancer care hospitals and research institutes con-trolled jointly by the central and state governments.

?      Government Medical Colleges: Owned and controlled by the respective state governments. These are referral hospitals.

?      District Hospitals or General Hospitals: Controlled by the respective state governments and serving the respective districts.

?      Taluk level Hospitals: Controlled by the respective state governments and serving the respective taluks.

Community Health Centres are basic health units in the urban areas. They are the units with the most basic facilities, serving rural India, generally at the level of a panchayat. Sub-centres are the most basic units of health in villages; first point of contact between villagers and public health care system in India.

And nutrition, providing safe drinking water, application of sanitary measures, efforts to control communicable diseases such as malaria and dengue, and monitoring environmental hazards. The personal health care facilities can be divided into two categories?(i) Public health services and (ii) Private health facilities. The public health services include primary health care centres, dispensaries and hospitals run by the Central and State Government and charitable trusts, while private health care facilities include hospitals, clinics and nursing homes run privately by people and private doctors.

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Emperor Asoka was the first leader in world history to attempt to give health care to all his citizens.

PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICES

Public health is the practice of protecting and improving the health of a community. Public health services are provided by the government to all. These services are financed by the government through the taxes that we pay.

Free medical treatment is given under national health policies that includes immunisation, prevention of malnutrition, family planning programmes, child birth and treatment of common diseases such as polio, tuberculosis, malaria, dengue and swine flu. Every year, the government also provides free treatment, face masks and medicines to patients of communicable diseases via government hospitals and select centres.

The widely advertised Pulse Polio Campaign is run by the government. In this programme,

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Kerala is an example for achieving a good status of public health by addressing the fundamentals of health: Investments in basic education, public health and primary care.

Tamil Nadu has also set up upgraded kitchens with LPG connection, stove and pressure cooker and electrification; using iron-fortified salt to address the burden of anaemia.

Certain days are fixed as Pulse Polio Day. Children who are six months to five years of age are given free polio drops under this campaign.

Government plays a key role in the provision of health services in urban as well as rural areas. It has opened up Primary Health Centres (PHCs) which is the cornerstone of rural health care. Primary Health Centres and their sub-centres meet the health care needs of rural population. Every village is provided a health care centre with a nurse and a village health worker to work under the supervision of a doctor. The serious cases are sent to urban government hospitals.

India produces over 25,000 doctors every year, yet the government hospitals are understaffed and underfinanced. The poor services at state- run hospitals force people to visit private medical practitioners who are costly.

To solve this problem, the government has instituted policy regulations and established

A SUCCESS STORY OF CHANDIGARH                  

In 2007, Chandigarh became the first city in India to become 'smoke-free'. The Smoke-Free Chandigarh project has been a success story. Taking a cue from the Chandigarh's success, cities like Shimla also followed the Smoke-Free Chandigarh model to become smoke-free. The success of Chandigarh had been widely recognised and the architect of smoke-free Chandigarh Hemant Goswami was also awarded the Global Smoke-Free Partnership Award for the initiative.

Answer the following:

1. How does smoking affect the human body?                    2. Who is a passive smoker?

3. Which warning do you read on the cigarette packet?

Q. Jayant has recently finished his MBBS from a prestigious medical college. He is being sent to a village on CRS programme. His parents are upset. What should he say to them?

Post-graduate medical Students on compulsory rural service

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In March 2014, the World Health Organisation (WHO) presented official certification to India for its 'Polio Free' status. It was a historic public health achievement. India embarked on the programme to eradicate the nation of polio 19 years ago in 1995, when the disease used to cripple more than 50,000 children in the country every year.

Public-private partnerships. For example, as part of the National Rural Health Mission, the government has established one year Compulsory Rural Service (CRS) for all new doctors. This helps to overcome the dearth of doctors in rural areas.

Moreover, the government is planning to establish academic medical centres (AMCs) such as All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for the delivery of higher quality health care. The government is also setting up a National Council on AIDS to help prevent the spread of HIV in the country.

Government hospitals provide treatment either free or at minimal charges. India is the fourth largest producer of medicines. However, half the children in India die due to shortage of medicines. To tackle this, the most essential medicines are offered free of charge in government hospitals. For example, a patient is waived treatment costs if he is below poverty line. The charges for basic in-hospital treatment and investigations are also much less compared to those in the private sector. The cost for these subsidies is borne by the Central and State governments.

PRIVATE HEALTH FACILITIES

Today, the fast pace of development of the private medical sector and the rapidly increasing middle class have led to the establishment of private hospitals and health care facilities on a profit basis. Some super speciality private hospitals include groups like Apollo, Fortis and Max.

The private health care services are costly and cannot be afforded by the poor. People get harassed paying the exorbitant consultation fees here. To counter this, the government has made a directive that private hospitals have to give free medical treatment and medicines to the poor in exchange of the public land provided to them at

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The city of Chennai has been termed "India's health capital". Multi and super-specialty hospitals across the city bring in an estimated 150 international patients every day. Chennai attracts about 4 5 per cent of health tourists from abroad arriving in the country and 30 to 40 per cent of domestic health tourists.

Discuss

According to studies, nearly one million. Indians die every year due to inadequate health care facilities, 700 million people have no access to specialist care and 80 per cent of specialist doctors live in urban areas. What more can the government do to solve this problem? Also hold a discussion about the upliftment of government hospitals. Cheap prices to build hospitals. Therefore, as a rule, one-fourth of the beds in private hospitals are reserved for the poor.

Private hospital

Conclusion

In recent times, India has successfully eradicated mass famines and controlled epidemics like cholera, malaria and smallpox. However, a huge number still suffer from poor health due to malnutrition and poor sanitation. Today, we need to educate the common man on nutrition and sanitation. Health education should be made compulsory in schools. Pollution of air and water should be controlled and people should be made aware of it. The government should provide adequate public health care and improve the condition of government hospitals. This will keep a check on the profit-making private sector and make medical expenses affordable. Even though the state health care facilities differ in different states, some states are doing better than the others. But the government should look at this aspect of development with greater concern. This is because a healthy population is what makes a nation healthy and prosperous.