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Directions (Q. Nos. 7-26) Study the passage below and answer the questions that follow each passage.
Passage I
For decades, the Government has grappled with India's healthcare shortcomings by introducing various programmes. Despite some measure of success, the problem of universal healthcare access continues to fester like a recalcitrant sore. While there are several reasons for the lack of complete success in improving healthcare access, the overall problem may lie in the pursuit of improper priorities. To address access issues head-on, radically improving primary healthcare in India should be top priority. A steep shortage in Primary Healthcare Centres (PCHs) across India is the prime reason why villagers are forced to trek almost 20 km to reach the nearest PHC. This may still be of little use, because most PHCs are perpetually plagued by a supply and staff shortage, making matters worse for sick patients who expend time, energy and resources to reach the PHC. For people from towns and semi-urban areas seeking modern medical care, the situation is no different, since they need to travel to the nearest city. Despite 750000 doctors registered with the Medical Council of India, the ground reality is that about 200000 aren’t active anymore. This means India has only one doctor to treat 2000 people, instead of one doctor for every 1000. Improving those figures will take time because the number of medical and nursing colleges cannot be hiked overnight to boost the output of medical graduates. The time has come to firmly recognise that health and healthcare issues cannot be left solely to the Government or public sector entities, if India is to meet its healthcare targets, including Millennium Development Goals for 2015. Such immense investments and specialised skills could best be tapped, public-private partnerships were promoted and private companies encouraged to establish healthcare infrastructure in all geographies-urban, semi-urban and rural-particularly where primary healthcare is concerned. Estimates indicate that only 320 million people or 26% of India’s population are covered under some form of medical insurance-public or private. In other words, large uncovered sections of the populace are forced to meet medical costs via out-of-pocket spends, causing immense financial burden and pushing many families into poverty.
Passage I
For decades, the Government has grappled with India's healthcare shortcomings by introducing various programmes. Despite some measure of success, the problem of universal healthcare access continues to fester like a recalcitrant sore. While there are several reasons for the lack of complete success in improving healthcare access, the overall problem may lie in the pursuit of improper priorities. To address access issues head-on, radically improving primary healthcare in India should be top priority. A steep shortage in Primary Healthcare Centres (PCHs) across India is the prime reason why villagers are forced to trek almost 20 km to reach the nearest PHC. This may still be of little use, because most PHCs are perpetually plagued by a supply and staff shortage, making matters worse for sick patients who expend time, energy and resources to reach the PHC. For people from towns and semi-urban areas seeking modern medical care, the situation is no different, since they need to travel to the nearest city. Despite 750000 doctors registered with the Medical Council of India, the ground reality is that about 200000 aren’t active anymore. This means India has only one doctor to treat 2000 people, instead of one doctor for every 1000. Improving those figures will take time because the number of medical and nursing colleges cannot be hiked overnight to boost the output of medical graduates. The time has come to firmly recognise that health and healthcare issues cannot be left solely to the Government or public sector entities, if India is to meet its healthcare targets, including Millennium Development Goals for 2015. Such immense investments and specialised skills could best be tapped, public-private partnerships were promoted and private companies encouraged to establish healthcare infrastructure in all geographies-urban, semi-urban and rural-particularly where primary healthcare is concerned. Estimates indicate that only 320 million people or 26% of India’s population are covered under some form of medical insurance-public or private. In other words, large uncovered sections of the populace are forced to meet medical costs via out-of-pocket spends, causing immense financial burden and pushing many families into poverty.
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Question : 7
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