Healthcare has always been a rather neglected in our country. Despite being an independent nation for nearly 70 years, we haven’t reached a state whereby we can ensure adequate availability of healthcare facilities to the majority of our population. To add to the misery of the citizens, successive governments have diluted the healthcare budgetary allocations and tried to run away from the responsibility to provide ‘Health for All’ as enshrined in the Alma Ata WHO declaration in 1978.
The private sector has mushroomed in healthcare but its growth has been limited and restricted to few parts of the country. The GDP of the country and the average earnings of the common man are abysmally low and do not permit primary dependence on private players for healthcare delivery. The country hasn’t got anywhere near the the goal of one doctor per 1000 population envisioned by the Planning Commission…
