Are you aware of Healthcare Challenges in India? Our healthcare sector has advance infrastructure because we have hospitals like AIIMS where all the medical facilities are available. Apart from that there are so many technically smart private hospitals to take care of the people at the earliest. Despite all these, some remote areas are unable to access the services because of their location.

Today, we will discuss the major healthcare challenges in India. What is holding us back? Knowing them will help us to get concrete solutions. Before jumping to the topic, we know our government is aggressively working to raise the healthcare infrastructure and, in this series, they have initiated so many health missions under their ABDM (Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission) program.

Furthermore, the World Health Organization says everyone should get good healthcare, no matter where they live. As per our research we have found, some healthcare challenges in India that are stopping us from reaching the level where we want to be. Let’s have a look at them.

Major Healthcare Challenges in India:

Awareness Of Health: It is very common practice, that many of us don’t care for our health. They don’t know how to maintain hygiene or first aid treatment while being sick. People believe, that sickness, seasonal fever, cough, cold, etc will go on its own. They simply live in their routine work.

We believe they should be given the right education where they should be taught “Self-Care”. Once people start maintaining hygiene and take the right steps at the very initial stage of sickness, the majority of health issues will be solved before reaching the hospitals.

Specialized Healthcare Infrastructure Accessibility: This problem majorly belongs to remote areas where PHCs (Primary Health Services) are available but not specialized healthcare services. In order to get specific treatment or consultation, the patients have to rush to the cities to get medicines or consultations. Sometimes in serious conditions, things go out of control.

To overcome the problem, along with PHCs (Primary Health Centres), Telemedicine can play an important role. People/patients living in remote areas can connect to a specific medical expert and depending on their health condition, a prescription shall be given.

Shortage of Qualified Medical Experts: The Medical domain has a shortage of qualified experts in the specific medical field. Due to the shortage of qualified manpower, patients need to wait for their turn. Moreover, the problem is majorly found in the rural areas.

To solve these issues, we should have more medical colleges and training centers. There should be proper training programs to attend to patients appropriately and guide them efficiently.

Health Insurance Awareness:  Under the government’s PM-JAY program, an Ayushman Card is given. The card covers health expenses of up to 5 lakhs INR for the needy families of the society as per SECC (Socio Economic and Caste Census). Many people in this class can have their Ayushman Card but they are unaware of it.

Apart from that there are so many insurance plans are available that cover our health expenses. The premiums towards such insurance are genuine and worthy. However, many people are still not aware of it.

To solve the problem, people must have information about such programs. They can get world-class medical facilities either free of cost (if they are eligible for the Ayushman Card) or by taking health insurance plans whose premiums are pocket-friendly.

You can refer to our blog (How to check your Ayushman Card Eligibility) to get more information.

Accountability: Private hospitals are doing their best to save people’s lives by providing world-class treatment. However, in some private hospitals’ patients have to run behind unnecessary lab or diagnostic tests. Sometimes medical team gives higher dosages of medicines to the patients. Earning money is their ultimate aim. Sometimes medical staff don’t treat patients well or make mistakes.

We need to make sure that they are responsible and they must execute their duties. To solve the problem, there should be a place where people can lodge their complaints. Higher authority should intervene so that people can get proper treatment.

Final Thoughts

We hope the above-mentioned Challenges of the healthcare sector in India are clear now. As we all know health is wealth. and when we are fit, we can conquer all the other problems of our lives.

To fix these problems, we need to work together. The government should spend more money on healthcare and make sure there are enough hospitals and clinics in villages. They should also train more medical experts to attend to the patients as soon as possible.

Apart from that, the healthcare facilities should be accessible to everyone. We can go for Telemedicine actively. However, there should be some brackets for private hospitals so that they can’t charge more and people can get quality treatment in pocket-friendly manner.

Along with the government, it is our primary responsibility to contribute our bit to strengthen India’s healthcare infrastructure. We should spread awareness for “Self-Care” and motivate people to help others (especially the illiterate people) wherever they can.

Furthermore, we are living in a digital era where we all have basic information to take care of ourselves. But we ignore them or take them lightly. The majority of health issues come because of poor or unbalanced lifestyles.

For example: We are quite aware, that eating junk food, not doing physical activities, and less than 8 hours of sleep, can harm our health. Most people don’t care, they simply follow these bad habits for their short-term happiness. But it is high time, we should take ownership of our health and only then we can hope for advanced healthcare infrastructure for our country.

We always wish you good health! Let’s make India fit and healthy!