Healthcare achievements of post-independent India

Health is wealth. In recent years, India appears to have finally internalized this old adage to apply the much-needed and long-awaited focus on the health of its citizenry.

In 2005, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stated “We recognise health as an inalienable human right that every individual can justly claim. So long as wide health inequalities exist in our country and access to essential health care is not universally assured, we would fall short in both economic planning and in our moral obligation to all citizens.”

Post-independence India’s most noteworthy achievement, in the public health arena, has been the decrease in death rates (mortality). In 1951 the at-birth life expectancy was around 37years which increased to nearly 65 years by 2011. 

In terms of infant mortality, there has been improvement between 1951 and 2000, such that the number of deaths in the youngest age group has fallen to 70 from 146 per 1000. Similar trends were observed from 2001 to 2006 with regards to maternal mortality, that is, 254 rather than 301 maternal deaths per 100,000 births. However, in both instances the total number of women and young children dying in India – partially due to the population growth – continues to be among the highest in the world.

Some disease-fronts where significant results have been achieved include malnutrition, leprosy, cholera, malaria, tuberculosis (TB), and HIV. The below-mentioned table presents data available in the public domain.

The reduction and control of diseases mentioned in the above table owe much of their success to several government health initiatives  as well as non-governmental organizations. Latest national-level, and ambitious, health initiatives announced by the Indian government include ‘Healthcare for all by 2020′ and distribution of free medications for all, especially to its lowest-income economic group (nearly 200 million people). 

The biggest challenge for India is the dual fight of containing a ‘developing’ country’s health concerns while a flare-up of  ’developed’ world disorders are at its doorstep. On one hand India is combating basic health concerns such as malnutrition, low immunization rates, hygiene, sanitation, and infectious diseases. On the other hand, environmental pollution and lifestyle choices such as alcohol consumption, smoking, and high fat diet are set to increase the incidence rates of hypertension (high blood pressure), cardiovascular (heart) disease, diabetes and cancer to almost epidemic levels.

In recent years India’s public spending on health has increased to nearly 15% of the total health-related costs of its citizenry – which is still lower than sub-Saharan Africa (40%) and affluent Europe (75%). 

In summary, there has been progress in the health status – especially in terms of life expectancy – in India. However, there is much to be done and a continuous focus on public health is critical and paramount for India to attain an acceptable quality of life for all its residents. As is the case with other public concerns, India’s historical and regional variability adds to the difficulty of under-diagnosis and under-treated health concerns of its citizens.

Here are some health-in-India information resources:

• National Centre for Disease Control
• National Vector Borne Diseases Control Programme
• Health in India Since Independence
• WHO: India
• Gapminder: Health Statistics