‘Health Care Equity in Urban India’ Report- Highlights

Azim Premji University recently published a report on “Health Care Equity in Urban India” in collaboration with 17 regional NGOs in India.

Key Findings of the report

• Report explores health vulnerabilities and inequalities in cities across India.
• It also explores the availability, accessibility and cost of healthcare facilities, as well as possibilities in future-proofing services in next decade.
• Report highlights that, Life expectancy among the poorest is lower by 9.1 years among men and 6.2 years among women as against richest in urban areas.
• One third of India’s people are now living in urban areas. This segment is observing a rapid growth from about 18% in 1960 to 28.53% in 2001 and reaching to 34% in 2019.
• Around 30% of people living in urban areas are poor.
• It also finds a heavy financial burden on poor, and less investment by urban local bodies in healthcare.

About the study

• The report draws insights from data collected after detailed interactions with civil society organisations across cities and towns in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Lucknow, Surat, Ranchi, Guwahati, and Delhi.
• Data further include an analysis of ‘National Family & Health Surveys (NFHS)’, input from State-level health officials in health care provision and Census of India.
• This report finds disproportionate disease burden on poor and also pointed towards a chaotic urban health governance.

Key recommendations of the report

The report gives following recommendations:

1. To strengthen community participation & governance
2. To build a comprehensive & dynamic database on health & nutrition status
3. To strengthen healthcare provisioning through National Urban Health Mission
4. To put in place policy measures for reducing financial burden of the poor.
5. To set a mechanism for coordinated public healthcare services
6. To govern private healthcare institutions in a better manner.

Month: Current Affairs - November, 2021