Just providing improved access to healthcare is not enough to bring about better outcomes; it is essential to invest in primary care with the objective of improving both access and quality of care. The Union Government has strengthened efforts to focus on health programs that can provide good health care to every citizen of India. In the last 60 years, there have been several programmes and policies that have come up with the purpose of expanding access to health services, especially in the rural areas. However, these efforts haven’t been able achieve the ultimate objective of providing good health care to everyone. Infant and maternal mortality rates have just been rising!
The various health schemes that have come up have increased access to health facilities by increasing the number of primary care centers in the country, even in the remote areas. In spite of this, the poor quality and inadequate services have resulted in no reduction in mortality rates. Almost one-third of the population in India dies due to inadequate health care.
In 2005, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government launched the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) with an aim to improve the delivery of health services in rural areas. With the success of the mission seen, the Union Cabinet was compelled to set up the National Urban Health Mission (NUHM). And, the UPA Government also launched the national insurance programme – Rashtriya Swasthya Beema Yojana (RSYB) – in 2008, with an aim to reduce out-of-pocket expenditure at the time of hospitalization. However, due to poor implementation and financial constraints, the programme couldn’t achieve the target as expected.
In 2014, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government introduced structural reforms with the objective of reforming the health and social structure, and announced the National Health Policy in 2017 (NHP2017), which focused on primary care services. Then, in Septmeber 2018, the government also launched a health insurance scheme – The Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), which could be availed in both public and private hospitals. However, the focus of this scheme was only on secondary and tertiary care, and not primary health care.
Almost 120 Indians in every 1,00,000 die due to poor quality of care today. The Primary Health Center (PHC) is the first point of contact between the health system and a village community, which acts as a referral center system for multiple sub-centers, providing healthcare services for thousands of people. But, to cover such large populations, the centers need to be equipped with multiple beds, sufficient manpower, skilled doctors, and enough stock of medical equipment.
Thus, it is very essential to invest in primary care with the objective of improving both access and quality of care. Only this approach can help India achieve the target of better health for all. And you, as an individual, can put in your own original ideas and efforts to offer your country with better healthcare services by helping it develop better medical equipment and treatments to treat major diseases and disorders. For this, you need to get enrolled in a reputed institute like Avigna Clinical Research Institute, where you can learn every aspect of the healthcare industry and earn a legitimate certificate of PG diploma in clinical research that can help you reach to heights in the clinical research industry in the future.
