Health experts call for inclusive healthcare for the poor

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 03: Healthcare experts called for the need of better healthcare services for the poor people than the top 40 percent income-bracket of society at the flagship annual event of Indian Institute of Health Management Research (IIHMR), Jaipur.

Voicing their concerns at ‘Pradanya 2018’, the 23 ^rd edition of the annual event, they pointed out that access to healthcare in India is marred by huge costs of out-of-pocket expenditure which pushes 7 percent of India’s households into poverty every year.

Dr. Indu Bhushan, CEO of Ayushman Bharat, said, “Poor people need more expensive health services than the top 40 percent income-bracket of society. The awareness levels, willingness to submit to clinical diagnosis at the primary healthcare level and access to secondary or tertiary healthcare services is lower among the most disadvantaged. Some states have been running very successful public healthcare programs of their own. Our aim is to amalgamate all these services into one but not force this model upon anyone. That is why we have been careful in choosing healthcare service providers that fit into the model, that are willing and prepared to serve. There is no rigidity in the model and we are open to feedback.”

Ayushman Bharat is National Health Protection Scheme, which aims to cover over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families.

The two-day event was marked with power-packed debates on breakthrough technologies, transformations, innovations and discoveries and their impact on current and future models of medical service delivery.The theme for this year’s event was “Re-imagining Healthcare: Yesterday’s Dream, Tomorrow’s Reality”.

Other participants included Naveen Jain, MD, National Health Mission, Govt of Rajasthan, Dr. Anil Agarwal, Health Specialist, UNICEF Rajasthan & Dr. Chandrakant Lahariya, Technical Officer, Health, Care & Access, WHO, India.

IIHMR University specializes in healthcare management, research, education, training and institutional networking.