Difference Between Indian Healthcare And Other Countries

 Dalai Lama perfectly quoted,

“Happiness is the highest form of health.”

And when we talk about health it covers all the aspects in every field. It should come as no surprise that the health care systems of other countries and India differ in many ways. One of the biggest differences between the other countries and India is in the public health arena. There’s not enough spent on safe water, sanitation, and nutrition. Only 25% of the population has access to sanitation. At a human level, this is a real problem. Part of the problem is that India lacks “social solidarity”—a sense that people should take care of other people—and this has resulted in a health system rife with inequities.

In India Hospitals and Clinics are managed by Government and private bodies. 75% of the hospitals and clinics are run by the respective state governments providing primary, secondary and tertiary health care.  In other countries, health care is almost totally in the private sector, provided to employees by their employers. Government only provides for those who are unemployed and incapable of purchasing medical insurance.

                                             

The Indian Government allocates only 4 to 5 % of its GDP for health care which amounts to some $40 per person annually. This is much less than what the Governments of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh allocate. On the other hand, the US spends almost 16% of its GDP on health care which is above world standards.

Medical insurance covers only a very minor percentage of the Indian population. There is very little awareness in India among the general public about it or its benefits. The amount paid by available insurance policies are outdated and do not reflect the current cost of health care. Hence most Indian doctors prefer uninsured patients. In places like US, and many European countries medical insurance is an important base of its health care system. People are even sometimes sent back without a treatment if they don’t see an insurance with the patient.

                                                

Proper sanitation and Hygiene also play a key role when we are talking about the differences in the healthcare systems of India with other countries.

“The biggest challenge for both India and the United States is their shared view [from government to practitioners to patients] that health care is an ‘industry’ rather than an ‘entitlement,’” Vikram Patel, a psychiatrist and professor of public health at Harvard Medical School, told Healthline. “This is what sets them apart from their peers: The United Kingdom or Canada for the United States, and China and Brazil for India.”