According to the first annual assessment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) health performance, India ranked 143rd among 188 nations, slightly ahead of Pakistan at 149th and Bangladesh at 151st spots. The results, which were based on several indicators, showed India improving in some areas and trailing behind in other areas.
There are more than many reasons why India is lagging behind on health, but some of the primary reasons are poverty, pollution, poor sanitation, lack of awareness on good health and well-being and unreasonable commercialization of the health care sector.
"Poverty contributes to inadequate spending on nutrition and health care."
Although India has been registering rapid development in a number of industrial sectors, it has not registered a similar development on the social front. The main reason for this is the disparity in growth. On one side we have the list of Indian billionaires among its global contenders extending year on year. On the other side, we also have poverty claiming scores of lives in more than many ways.
Poverty also contributes to poor sanitation. Poverty results in slum dwelling with open and stagnant drains becoming a breeding ground for disease-causing bacteria and viruses, also for carriers like mosquitoes. Ill health due to poverty subsequently results in reduced physical strength in individuals to carry out productive labor that can uplift them from their impoverished condition. It remains a cyclic phenomenon, affecting the overall good health and well-being of people below poverty line.
Pollution is another serious challenge confronting our nation
Some of the major contributors to pollution are improper disposal of domestic waste, toxic wastes expelled by the industries, vehicular emissions and agrochemical pollution from agriculture and stubble burning (burning of straws after harvest). Pollutants are finding their way to sneak into everything that humans eventually consume. In air that we breathe to water that we drink and food that we consume, there are enough toxins to invade our health. So, the overall conduciveness of our environment to health is anywhere from poor to extremely hazardous.
Lack of awareness and unreasonable commercialization of health care
Illiteracy, and lack of awareness and civic sense even when one is a literate are also factors, which are resulting in poor health and spread of diseases. But the positive outcome of reach both mainstream media and social media are enjoying has resulted in transpiring of vital information on a number of health care issues. Yet we need a reliable database of information that can be carried across the society to keep every citizen informed on the 'dos and do not's' pertaining to health. It is also important to educate people on first-aid, home remedies and further and alternative course of medications available to treat a disease. Lack of awareness is also making people into paranoid-preys to predation happening in the name of 'medication'. It is a fact that unreasonable commercialization of health care is taking a toll on our health. Although in our cities we have hospitals, diagnostic centers and pharmacies in every nook and corner, an undesirable level of commercialization has crept into them like another breeding disease.
With a number of direct and indirect factors like these causing ill health of our people, for India to fair better on health care, it has to address each one of them, until results become visible across the society. Perhaps we have to treat them like diseases and look for a cure.
There are more than many reasons why India is lagging behind on health, but some of the primary reasons are poverty, pollution, poor sanitation, lack of awareness on good health and well-being and unreasonable commercialization of the health care sector.
"Poverty contributes to inadequate spending on nutrition and health care."
Although India has been registering rapid development in a number of industrial sectors, it has not registered a similar development on the social front. The main reason for this is the disparity in growth. On one side we have the list of Indian billionaires among its global contenders extending year on year. On the other side, we also have poverty claiming scores of lives in more than many ways.
Poverty also contributes to poor sanitation. Poverty results in slum dwelling with open and stagnant drains becoming a breeding ground for disease-causing bacteria and viruses, also for carriers like mosquitoes. Ill health due to poverty subsequently results in reduced physical strength in individuals to carry out productive labor that can uplift them from their impoverished condition. It remains a cyclic phenomenon, affecting the overall good health and well-being of people below poverty line.
Pollution is another serious challenge confronting our nation
Some of the major contributors to pollution are improper disposal of domestic waste, toxic wastes expelled by the industries, vehicular emissions and agrochemical pollution from agriculture and stubble burning (burning of straws after harvest). Pollutants are finding their way to sneak into everything that humans eventually consume. In air that we breathe to water that we drink and food that we consume, there are enough toxins to invade our health. So, the overall conduciveness of our environment to health is anywhere from poor to extremely hazardous.
Lack of awareness and unreasonable commercialization of health care
Illiteracy, and lack of awareness and civic sense even when one is a literate are also factors, which are resulting in poor health and spread of diseases. But the positive outcome of reach both mainstream media and social media are enjoying has resulted in transpiring of vital information on a number of health care issues. Yet we need a reliable database of information that can be carried across the society to keep every citizen informed on the 'dos and do not's' pertaining to health. It is also important to educate people on first-aid, home remedies and further and alternative course of medications available to treat a disease. Lack of awareness is also making people into paranoid-preys to predation happening in the name of 'medication'. It is a fact that unreasonable commercialization of health care is taking a toll on our health. Although in our cities we have hospitals, diagnostic centers and pharmacies in every nook and corner, an undesirable level of commercialization has crept into them like another breeding disease.
With a number of direct and indirect factors like these causing ill health of our people, for India to fair better on health care, it has to address each one of them, until results become visible across the society. Perhaps we have to treat them like diseases and look for a cure.