Even as healthcare becomes more accessible to rural Indians through government schemes such as Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY and E-Sanjeevani, several challenges still remain, shows a survey report unveiled during TRI’s ongoing India Rural Colloquy.
Even as India has taken long strides in establishing itself as a ‘medical tourism’ destination for people from across the globe, local access to healthcare remains a challenge in rural India. As many as 63 percent of the surveyed populations comprising family members of those suffering from non-communicable diseases (NCD), chose to migrate to other states to avail better healthcare services. The findings are a part of the ‘State of Health in Rural India’ survey conducted by the Development Intelligence Unit (DIU), a collaboration between Transform Rural India (TRI) and Sambodhi Research Pvt. Ltd. The report was released as part of TRI’s India Rural Colloquy on August 8 at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.
According to the report, about 73 percent of the people (or families) with serious ailment in the Northeast migrated to other states in search of better healthcare services, as compared to 60 percent of those belonging to northern states. The figure was the lowest for south Indian states (28 percent). The primary reason for visits to other places was the availability of better medical facilities at the destinations.
“It is evident that there are no alternatives to improved, modernised and transformed healthcare services at the primary level with a specific focus on under-developed regions to improve patient satisfaction and reducing the need of long-distance travel for treatment,” Shyamal Santra, Associate Director of Public Health and Nutrition at TRI, said.
“The compulsion of travel in the quest for quality medical treatment adds emotional and financial stress to the patients and their families. By adopting a ‘whole of system, whole of society’ approach to offer ‘state of the art’ infrastructure and quality services locally, we can alleviate the burden on patients and make healthcare more inclusive and equitable across the country,” Santra added. “Careful attention is required on trust-building efforts within local healthcare eco-systems (bringing innovations, start-ups, public and private entities, etc) and communities to create a conducive environment for patients to access comprehensive care services within locality.”
The survey also showed that over half (52 percent) of households with at least one member suffering from a chronic illness have availed doorstep diagnostic services offered by private providers, thus revealing an inclination towards availing health and ancillary services near the home or village.
The central government’s ambitious Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana has been effective to a large extent in ensuring social security, especially among vulnerable populations, by providing cashless secondary and tertiary medical treatment and care. As per this report, the Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) – a unique health ID comprising a 14-digit identification number – has been created among 22 percent of the surveyed population, and 30 percent of the beneficiaries have availed the entitled services so far.
The Government of India’s vision to remove barriers to accessing healthcare through its National Tele-consultation Services (E-Sanjeevani) has also started to show percolation among the rural population. Over 90 percent of the respondents in the survey expressed that they have never availed telemedicine services for their household members.
The survey, conducted with a sample size of 6,478 respondents across 20 states, also found that, on an average, medicines worth Rs 1,628 have been provided free of cost to patients suffering from NCD.
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The lead image at the top shows a woman getting an injection at a village in Ajmer district of Rajasthan. (Photo courtesy Shutterstock)
Pallavi Srivastava is Associate Director, Content, at Village Square.
