A surge of external forces, new partnerships and a collective public outcry to fundamentally change healthcare’s status quo aim to force the relatively stagnant healthcare industry to adapt, I believe by definition, the disruptions in healthcare are probably little known to most of us today because we remain engrossed in headline management & fail to understand how healthcare delivery mechanism can be bettered. We are in an exciting phase of healthcare innovations’ believe that India needs disruptive innovator creating a new market disrupting the status quo and displacing established incumbents and the rules of the realm. Mere cosmetic changes wont help, we need actions, bold reforms & sustained campaign to deliver healthcare to the rural india. Everybody can give lectures, but how do we do that?
Meet Satya Brahma, the founder chairman of the Pharma Leaders Group as Satya opines that healthcare in india has been in deep shambles & need deep introspection. Satya says that Healthcare is a fundamental right, but it is not fundamentally right in India.
The Supreme Court has held healthcare to be a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution. However, historical public spending of just over a percent of GDP on healthcare has ensured that the country’s healthcare need has remained underserved and left for the private sector to service. The fundamental aspect of healthcare — primary healthcare — is in shambles. There is only one primary healthcare centre (often manned by one doctor) for more than 51,000 people in the country. The World Bank estimates that 90% of all health needs can be met at the primary healthcare level. India has grossly under-invested in the area that should matter the most.
Satya’s perception on healthcare innovations point out the poor state of healthcare conditions in the country. India is at the crossroads with the government rolling out the biggest publicly funded healthcare plan in the world In healthcare but at a time when Universal Health Coverage has become the new buzzword of healthcare in India since Ayushman Bharat, the National Health Profile 2019 throws up sobering figures. Lets look at this. Between 2009-10 and 2018-19, India’s public health spend as a percentage of GDP went up by just 0.16 percentage points from 1.12% to 1.28% of GDP, and remains a far cry from the 2.5% GDP health spend that has been India’s target for some years now. The cost of treatment has been on rise in India and it has led to inequity in access to health care services. India spends only 1.28% of its GDP (2017-18 BE) as public expenditure on health. Per capita public expenditure on health in nominal terms has gone up from Rs 621 in 2009-10 to Rs 1,657 in 2017-18. Compare this with the average total medical expenditure per childbirth in a public hospital: Rs 1,587 in a rural area and Rs 2,117 in an urban area. Based on Health Survey (71st round) conducted by NSSO, average medical expenditure incurred during hospital stay during January 2013-June 2014 was Rs 14,935 for rural and Rs 24,436 in urban India.
Lets look at this closely as Satya says we are comfortable with innovation but we push hard against disruptors who dare to disturb our status quo. Innovations in the form of new drugs, devices, algorithms, processes and payment schemes are our standard fare. What we know for sure is the disruptors are busy building new businesses based on value propositions many incumbents think impractical or implausible. They are attracting investment from private equity, strategic investors, angel investors, venture capital and go-fund-me campaigns.
lets make a fresh beginning. We cant afford to be a silent spectators. In new India, there is a dire need to reverse this trend in every aspect of life, particularly the healthcare sector. Medical negligence and apathy, poor quality of healthcare services, lack of hospitals and the shortage of doctors and nurses, low hospital bed density, doctor-to-patient ratios are greater issues that need to be addressed.
Lets build a strong india & a healthier india.
