Health System in India: Crisis and Alternatives

The objective of universal access to good quality, appropriate healthcare, envisaged over half a century ago at the dawn of Independence, today remains unrealised. Public health haseffectively remained a low priority for the Indian state in terms of financing and political attention. Consequently, there has been a major and growing divergence between the policy rhetoric (such as the Alma Ata Declaration) and actual implementation. Moving in to occupy the hiatus, there has been a massive growth of the private sector, which is unaffordable for a large section of the population, and which lacks any regulation and standardisation. Closely related to this, and compounding this situation has been a Techno-managerial model of healthcare inspired by the West, with an inability to evolve effective indigenous models and appropriate technologies, or to effectively integrate modern and indigenous systems of medicine in contrast to China. [Drafted by Abhay Shukla and Ravi Duggal]