Thanks for pointing out the historical perspective of Declaration of Alma-Ata. To be very honest – I personally was not aware of that. While I am not sure how India is tracking to that, I am pretty sure that there are organizations like WHO who are auditing Healthcare in countries like India on a periodic basis and working with the governments to see how they can fill in the gaps.

"Health for All" is a broad goal or similar to vision statement . I am sure that someone would have broken that vision into year-by-year achievable targets. So my guess is that India is still going through that journey.

Hope this helps.

Thanks

Manish Rathi
http://www.manishrathi.com

Regards
Sunitha Blossom
Computer Sciences Corporation- Healthcare

Alternative medicine today that is popular with a select few, niche group is more expensive abroad and part of ancient Ayurvedic healing methods from India. However we don't know how to deliver well, present, package and sustain the quality. Combination of the ancient healing measures, spread of telemedicine and EMR can make the difference. We have talent but when it comes to implementing we fall short of perseverance and preservation of our strong holds while working on our deficits.

As someone said "Indian health care is an example of pockets of excellence in an ocean of inadequecies". But we have come a long way for sure. But yesterday in NDTV i saw some unnerving statistics on the problem on hunger in India. It said that 50% of the world's hungry were in India in spite of some of the fact that some of the world's largest feeding programs are run by India…
I would be very interested in working with private health enterprises on their program for rural health.. if such opportunities exist.

Best Regards
Venkat
By Venkataraman S Pursuing Healthcare Administration

Thank you for your thoughts. What you have written is all correct.

While some of the glaring challenges certainly needs to be fixed and resolved if India dreams about having a mature and sustainable healthcare system like any developed country, we should also take a moment and also acknowledge the progress which India has made in the recent years. To be honest – there is a lot. My guess is that the new progress has brought in newer sets of challenges.

Regards,
Manish

I agree with you that a glaring contrast exists between the advancement in medical technology in the urban India and the lack of basic medical facilities in the rural areas. Corporate health care is booming in the cities, servicing the Indian middle and upper classes, while the rural population suffers without even the basic medical facilities.

Medical professionals by and large are reluctant to serve in rural areas, which lack facilities that are available in the cities. Some corporate hospitals do indeed reach out to some pockets of rural areas, where due to poor paying capacity viability of the service becomes an issue. Government units like public health centers are often under-staffed, lack proper infrastructure and supplies.

National level policy changes are required to bridge the visible gap in the availability of health care services between urban and rural areas. Doctors should be encouraged to work in rural areas by providing monitory incentives. Some suggestions in this direction are already made by the Government.

Accountability, commitment and ethical behavior from service providers will improve customer confidence. Medical services should be made cost effective and accessible to all. Health care in India has great potential for growth and is likely to succeed if it becomes inclusive.

Regards,
Rathika