Biggest health challenges before India

In the health sector, India has made tremendous progress in the last decades. Life expectancy has passed 67 years, with infant and under-five mortality rates declining as disease incidence rates decline. Many diseases like polio, guinea worm disease, yawning and tetanus have been eradicated.
Despite this progress, communicable diseases are expected to remain a major public health problem in the coming decades, threatening both national and international health security. In addition to endemic diseases such as human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), tuberculosis (TB), malaria and neglected tropical diseases, communicable disease outbreaks will continue to challenge public health, requiring a high level of preparedness. will be required. For quick detection and quick response. In this regard, vector-borne diseases such as dengue and acute encephalitis syndrome are of particular concern. Antimicrobial resistance is one of the greatest health challenges facing humanity and must be tackled with all seriousness.

In addition, non-communicable diseases or NCDs are now the leading cause of death in the country, contributing to 60% of deaths. Four diseases such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes and chronic pulmonary diseases contribute to about 80% of all deaths due to NCDs and they share four common risk factors, namely tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol, Unhealthy diet and lack of physical activity.
Epidemiological transition is, in fact, driven by social and economic determinants of health, and by some old and some new risk factors such as globalization, unplanned and unregulated urbanisation, changing lifestyles, environmental factors (eg, climate change and air pollution). ), and the growing influence of media and advertising. In addition, large disparities exist in society between the rich and the poor (and between those living in urban and rural areas) in access to health services. For example, the poorest of the poor and the most marginalized sections of society are not only at greater risk for communicable and NCDs, but are also least able to cope with the diseases that result from these risk factors. If someone in the family becomes ill, the family often falls into poverty, partly because of the high cost of health care. The health system has also collapsed.
The health system should be strengthened to improve the process of service delivery. In order to make health services responsive to the needs of the community, it is necessary to improve the functioning of the existing government health infrastructure. This can be done in three steps as follows: first, evaluate existing public health systems and facilities, improve them based on the findings of the assessment, including augmented human and physical resources, and monitor their performance and fix accountability in a systematic manner, By setting goals and striving to achieve them through a comprehensive and integrated approach with the full involvement of the community. Better access to government health services, which are primarily accessed by the poor and disadvantaged sections of the society, will go a long way in achieving better health outcomes.
Addressing equality is fundamental because public health should aim at the welfare of the weakest and most vulnerable sections of society. In this regard, priority should be given to understanding barriers to equitable access, integrating equity goals into policy and programmes, and targeting resources and efforts to reach the poor and vulnerable sections of society with essential services. By improving program efficiency, performance and accessibility, these three “S”s can truly shape the future of public health in India.
Can connect patients with doctors in hospitals in urban areas. The government is already setting up a network of telemedicine services, a mother and child tracking system of weekly voice messages to pregnant women and new moms, a web-based TB registration scheme called NIKSHAAY, and Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs). Planning a mobile app for training. ) staff. Space research is another area to explore.
Modern technology has great potential to bring efficiencies in service delivery and increase access to health services. It can, for example, connect remote areas to national centers of excellence or patients in villages to doctors in urban areas hospitals through audio or video conferencing. The government is already setting up a network of telemedicine services, a mother and child tracking system of weekly voice messages to pregnant women and new mothers, a web-based TB registration scheme called NIKSHAAY, and Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs). Planning a mobile app for training.