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A number of people trying to maintain good health and also exploring to buy a health insurance policy to cover their health risks find existing health insurance policies in the country confusing and expensive. Moreover, an even larger chunk of people do not trust the healthcare ecosystem.
These are the findings of a study, GOQii India Fit Report 2019, by preventive healthcare and fitness platform GOQii. The findings are based on responses from 700,000 users of the company’s fitness app.
Earlier this year a draft national policy was approved which could have seen the allocation of a potential 100 crore to the research and treatment of rare diseases. Abruptly, the Centre has withdrawn the policy. Rare diseases cumulatively affect around 350 million people. The bill was initially passed on May 25 this year. However, such an elongated drafting period led to accusations that the government are dragging their feet on the matter.
With India launching its most ambitious healthcare scheme ever in the form of Ayushman Bharat or Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), there is both excitement and apprehension over its future. As our country works towards achieving a uniform and standardized health coverage system, the key to its success is building a strong capability in digital health.
Underscoring the urgent need for countries like India to put women's cancers on the map of the public health agenda, Prof Ian Jacobs, Vice-Chancellor of the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, an acknowledged global expert on the subject, India can benefit immensely from the global experience on screening and prevention in the area of ??ovarian and cervical cancers.
Ever wondered why our government hospitals look like homeless shelters? Why are there so many people sleeping in their corridors? Do we have too few hospitals? Or too few doctors? The reasons are aplenty; one of the main ones is the poor realisation of a theoretically sound policy.
The agency was responsible for running the government’s massive new health insurance scheme and is now being called an “authority” in an effort to enhance the autonomy of the body. The cabinet has approved the “restructuring” of the National Health Agency as the National Health Authority, and has dissolved the former. This new change comes after 100 days of the scheme being operational.
The five schemes listed in the proposal are crucial to attaining the goals and objectives laid out in National Health Policy (NHP) 2017, and international commitments in the form of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval for the continuation of five schemes under the "Umbrella Scheme for Family Welfare and Other Health Interventions" during the Fourteenth Finance Commission period 2017-18 to 2019-20 .
"The new scheme is just a modification of the earlier scheme, RSBY Over half of the target beneficiaries proposed to be covered under the NHPS already stand covered today by existing government supported schemes," it said.
What if you try making a bullet train operational in India within a year? The project will fail miserably as you need to allow enough time for design and implementation. Using the same logic, if a road needs repairing, it needs to be fixed immediately, instead of wasting time in endless deliberations. It applies both ways.
Continuing disputes between insurer New India Assurance and the State govt on the issue of de-empanelment of hospitals for fraud are a cause for concern.
BL Research Bureau
The running disputes between New India Assurance and the Rajasthan government on the Bhamashah Swasthya Bima Yojana – the fount for the Ayushman Bharat scheme – over the extensive fraudulent practices must be resolved, especially if the Center wants to get more insurance companies on board its pet insurance plan.
The National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) 2015/16 based on about 59 women in India says less than two-thirds (63%) of married women have any say in their own health care or other household decisions. And 30% of women experienced physical violence since the age of 15.
India is still a land of missing women. A study, in 2011, reported as a result of selective abortions between 1980 and 2010, foeticide claimed the lives of 12 million Indian girls.
India rates poorly in global human development rankings. In 2018, it ranked 130 out of 189 countries, and stands 127 in the Gender Inequality Index. Now, how empowered is India's surviving female population (about 59 crore) in terms of access to basic health rights.
