With 1.428 billion inhabitants, India becomes the most populous country on the planet. However, the health system remains unbalanced. Having an appointment in a public hospital can be very complicated and access to medication remains uncertain. Illustration in Delhi.
In Delhi, an overcrowded megalopolis, the surroundings of the public hospital resemble an open-air dormitory, hundreds of families are lying down with suitcases as pillows. Many come from afar, like this father inhabitant of Raliana “at 100 km”he explains.
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This man came to Delhi for an operation on his daughter, for lack of a hospital in his region: “I’ve been here since March 16 and we’ve waited two years to get a date for his surgery.” Opposite the emergency department, in the queue for a semi-governmental pharmacy, a man waits to buy his medication. This Indian could get them for free from the hospital but “Imost of the time there is nonehe regrets. And when there are, they are only the cheapest drugs. For everything else you have to come here.”
Overwhelmed public hospitals
China is no longer the most populous country in the world. India takes first place this week from Monday April 10, with 1.428 billion inhabitants according to UN figures. A demography synonymous with growth and dynamism, but also many challenges to be met. There is that of employment, but also the question of health. In India, public hospitals provide treatment almost free of charge but are overcrowded and degraded, short of doctors and faced with an uninterrupted influx of the poorest. For the others, there are private hospitals that have sprung up all over the country, especially in Delhi. “It takes too long to have an appointment in a public hospital, testifies a patient at the exit of one of these brand new establishments. It’s more convenient here because it’s not crowded like there. In addition, in the public it is not comfortable, I have already been there.
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To put an end to this asymmetrical health system, the Indian government launched in 2018 the modicare, named after Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The aim is to cover the health costs of nearly 500 million of the poorest Indians. But for Professor Rajib Dragusta, head of the health department at the University of Delhi, the assurance of universal care requires another balance. The distribution of doctors on the territory poses a problem. “This is something we will have to change.” he assures.
“The number one priority is to strengthen the public service by distributing doctors largely concentrated in urban areas and in the private sector, while 60 to 70% of the population lives in rural areas.”
Rajib Dragusta, head of health department at Delhi Universityat franceinfo
The Ashas, pillars of the health system
To make up for this lack, the government is counting on the million Ashas, medical social workers who work in the countryside and the slums. But From now on they are demonstrating all over the country to demand a salary increase.
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“The government must accept our demands, protests Zaiefa, one of them. It is not exaggerated! During the Covid we worked night and day, without us the situation would be very serious for families who do not have access to health centers, it would be a disaster.” Because without them, it is a pillar of the Indian health system that collapses.
In India, an unequal health system – the report by Farida Nouar
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