ISSN (Print) - 0012-9976 | ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846

HealthcareSubscribe to Healthcare

Mid-level Healthcare Providers

The experiences and challenges in health service delivery, faced by the newly created cadre known as mid-level healthcare providers or community health officers, are explored through an empirical study conducted in selected health and wellness centres of West Jaintia Hills district. Findings show that while the CHOs are motivated to work given the opportunity available in the public health system, they also encounter many challenges in terms of increased work burden, poor training, and other systemic problems confronting the public health systems in Meghalaya.

Cuba’s COVID-19 Crisis

Personal and admittedly subjective observations and reflections on the multidimensional crisis in Cuba are presented, drawing especially on the author’s three weeks’ visit. The focus is on the worst crisis Cuba has ever faced in terms of not only its economic and social impact, but especially on its social-psychological effect on Cuban people.

Rajasthan: A Front Runner towards Right to Health

Socialisation of the healthcare system and its fi nancing by a public agency is essential to establish the right to health.

Extending Health Financial Coverage to the Informal Non-poor and Near Poor in India

Several countries are rolling out and scaling healthcare financial coverage for the informal non-poor or the informal near poor through publicly sponsored health insurance programmes. As Indian policymakers are planning to extend the coverage of the National Health Insurance Programme (Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana) to the missing middle, insights from international experience are explored.

Corporatisation in Private Hospitals Sector in India

Transformation in the Indian private hospitals sector is examined in Maharashtra, employing qualitative interviews, witness seminars, and desk research. Findings point to significant changes: hospitals viewed as businesses to yield profits; adoption of business strategies to ensure financial viability and returns; changes in not-for-profit and small hospitals; and consequences for institutional and medical practice. Policy shifts towards greater private sector involvement in health, industry advocacy, availability of insurance, and patient expectations drive these changes towards corporatisation, which is not just about the growth of corporate hospitals; it entails structural and behavioural changes across the healthcare sector solely favouring economic goals.

Drug Price Control in India

Price control of life-saving essential medicines is the need of the hour, but the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority has allowed a hike of 10% in nearly 800 drugs and devices listed under the National List of Essential Medicines from 1 April 2022 because of the rising input costs. Prices of scheduled drugs are allowed an increase each year acc­ording to the wholesale price index. Input costs are rising primarily because India is heavily dependent on China for drug imports.

Public Health for All

Universalising Healthcare in India: From Care to Coverage edited by Imrana Qadeer, K B Saxena and P M Arathi, Delhi: Aakar Books, 2019; pp 475, `1,495.

National Health Accounts, 2018–19

A deficit in healthcare and its skewed availability across states remain major limitations.

Novel Health Approaches Emerging from the Covid-19 Crisis

Novel public health experiments from Maharashtra in the pandemic times, involving co-production of healthcare, interventionist regulation of private hospital rates and popular initiatives to ensure social accountability of private hospitals, demonstrate significant potentials to advance people-centred health system changes.

Huge Lags in Medical Education

The government continues ignoring the increasing demand for health services and the shortage of doctors.

 

Non-communicable Diseases and Their Macroeconomic Impact in India

Non-communicable diseases now account for two-thirds of the total mortality in India and are projected to account for an estimated 75% of the total mortality by 2030. Cardiovascular diseases, cancer, respiratory diseases, and diabetes are the country’s leading causes of death.

Hospitalised Care among Larger States

Though the global spending on health is rising worldwide, people were still paying too much out of their pockets. This article examined the comparative expenditure on hospitalised care in India using three rounds of the National Sample Surveys. As there is low footfall in public facilities, the Government of India needs to take necessary measures to strengthen the public health system.

 

Pages

Back to Top