NEW DELHI, Apr 20:
As some lockdown relaxations in certain sectors like agriculture and health are expected from Monday, the overall health condition of rural India is a cause of concern in the want of basic health services. According to a survey by a primary research and data analytics unit, rural India spends comparatively smaller amounts on health care in relation to alcohol and tobacco.
Compared to health care, the study found that people in villages spend three times more on alcohol and four times more on tobacco.
The people also prefer to luxury goods rather than the health care needs, the study said. This finding is at variance with the government data, which shows that medical expenditure during emergencies and hospitalisation push 63 million people into poverty each year.
The survey indicated that though the incidence of diseases in rural India is high, people do not spend much on treatment till the point of hospitalisation. The reason for this is that health care services are non-existent in most parts of rural India
India’s health expenditure is 4.1 per cent of GDP, of which public expenditure, the amount the government spends on health care, is 1.04 per cent. (PTI)
In real terms of the per capita public health spend of Rs 957, the central government spends Rs 325/- and state governments Rs 632. Informatively, strict vigil are being noticed against tobacco and alcohol during the lockdown period in the country. However, some states are in favour of some relaxation in this respect keeping an eye on the exchequer. The study pointed out that if people of rural India are not spending on medicines, it’s because they can not find doctors to prescribe medicines or diagnostic centres to do the tests. (UNI)
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