Question : Health Services in India

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

(a) whether the plethora of issues which is hovering around the healthcare sector leads to increase in burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases;

(b) if so, whether the health sector is facing challenges such as lack of Primary Health Centre, inadequate medical personnels, less Government spending, abysmal condition of hospitals, lack of medical colleges and research centres, over focused on specific diseases, lack of regulatory mechanism and inadequate insurance coverage;

(c) if so, the details thereof and the reaction of the Government thereon; and

(d) whether measures such as deployment of doctors, ASHA and ANM with incentives and better provision, universal health coverage, regulatory mechanism for supervision and monitoring and creation awareness about the health issues, insurance, and hygienic lifestyles to public have been taken by the Government and if so, the details thereof?

ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND
FAMILY WELFARE
(SMT. ANUPRIYA PATEL)

(a): There are multiple factors including lifestyles that influence the burden of disease. The burden of communicable diseases has been declining. The focus of the Government is to provide accessible, affordable and accountable quality healthcare facilities to all sections of society especially the marginalized sections in the country.

(b) to (d): While there are multiple challenges, the availability of Primary Health Centres, human resources, number of medical colleges and medical seats, have been improving.

Public health and hospitals being a State subject, the primary responsibility to address healthcare challenges is that of State Governments. However, under National Health Mission (NHM), financial and technical support is provided to States/UTs to strengthen their healthcare systems including support for strengthening health infrastructure, deployment of medical personnel, ASHAs, creating awareness about health issues and lifestyles, and support movement towards Universal Health Coverage.

The Central Government has enacted the Clinical Establishment (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010 and also notified Clinical Establishments Rules 2012 to provide a legislative framework for the registration and regulation of clinical establishments in the country and also seeks to improve the quality health services by prescribing minimum standards of facilities and services which may be provided.

The Government has also taken steps for strengthening and upgrading district hospitals and making available tertiary health care services in the public sector through strengthening of hospitals, establishment of AIIMS institutions in the States and up-gradation of existing Government medical colleges across the country.

With regard to increasing awareness about the health issues, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare regularly releases print advertisement and TV and radio spots in National/regional media for generating awareness among population about various Health and Family Welfare issues and programmes of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. These include Mission Indradhanush, World Health Day, World No Tobacco Day, Yoga Day, Intensified Diarrhoea Control Fortnight, World Population Day, Breastfeeding, Tuberculosis, etc.

The Government has formulated the National Health Policy 2017 which has laid emphasis on the role of the Government in regulation, governance, and quality assurance, healthcare infrastructure and in leveraging information technology. The policy also envisages raising public health expenditure to 2.5% of the GDP in a time bound manner.