The life expectancy at birth is 56 years in Uttar Pradesh as against 74 years in Kerala; this figure reflects that the 180 million population of UP is profoundly disturbing, said Dr. Hamid Ansari, Vice President of India on the fourth convocation of Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University formally known as King George’s Medical College (KGMC) in Lucknow on Tuesday.
UP is home to one-sixth of our population, thus these figures have national relevance and according to State Planning Department report, UP continues to languish at a low level of human development, added Ansari while expressing his concern on the poor status of health care condition in the state.
Comparing the data of state’s facilities with that of national, vice president said, ‘Less than 10 percent households in Uttar Pradesh had access to piped drinking water, 33 percent accessed to toilets and 42 percent received electricity, while on the national figures these means are 42 percent, 45 percent, and 68 percent respectively.’
Quoting to National Family Health Survey (NFHS) of 2005-06, Dr. Hamid said, ‘Around half of the women in the age group between 15 to 50, and 85 percent of children under 3 years in the state suffer from anaemia; nearly half of the children are stunted and underweight while less than a quarter of children have been completely immunized.’
‘The Infant mortality rate in Uttar Pradesh is 73 per thousand live births as compared to the all-India figure of 57 while less than 25 per cent of the children were completely immunised,’ he added.
Pointing out the latest report of World Health Organisation (WHO), Ansari outlined five common shortcomings in healthcare deliveries: Inverse care, Impoverishing care, Fragmented care, Unsafe care, and Misdirected care.
Dr. Hamid expressed his regret on the disastrous consequences for the poor as according to health department report ‘health expenditure is the second biggest cause of rural indebtedness’ and ‘over 40 percent of hospitalised persons borrow heavily or sell assets to cover expenses, and 25 percent Indians fall below the poverty line because of hospital expenses while in Uttar Pradesh this figure is around 34 percent.’
In the solution, he stressed on to implement seven point suggestions of NFHS survey.
First, the focus should be on to reducing infant mortality rate as UP has the highest loss in the country due to premature death and disability from non-fatal illness. “Only 11 percent population of Uttar Pradesh receives antenatal care compared to 85 percent in Kerala and only 11.3 percent are institutional deliveries for UP compared to 96.6 percent for Kerala.”
Second, state needs an ample investment in physical infrastructure as only 9 percent of the state’s population make use of government facilities for treatment of ordinary ailments with the rest depending on private healthcare while over 11 percent of the population are not able to access medical care due to location reasons.
Third, there is a substantial need for filling up the doctors and nurses in the existing Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) along with enhancing the number of PHCs and hospitals in the state in view of large population of state.
Forth, UP needs more human resources and medical colleges in the state. At present, UP have only 11 medical colleges which should be at least 24 if we calculate it on the formula of 50-lakh people per medical college.
Fifth, major focus should be on preventive healthcare and cost effective interventions, as suggested by the National Commission on Macroeconomics and Health (NCMH) in terms of infant mortality, nutrition, tuberculosis, smoking and tobacco use, and unsafe sex. ‘Reduction in childhood mortality may raise the life expectancy at birth of an Indian by over 3 years, and our GDP by over 4 per cent,’ he emphasised by quoting NCHM report.
Sixth, effectively integrate provision of private sector health services, as public sector is not adequate to meet the need of health infrastructure. ‘Industry or professional self-regulation bodies do not exist only for accreditation, setting up standards and for institutional licensing of private health facilities in the country. This regulatory lacuna must be immediately addressed both at the centre and state levels,’ he exhorted.
Describing the seventh point, vice president emphasised the need of health insurance as health insurance provides a way of risk pooling and cost sharing among various segments of the population. “Central and State Governments are enhancing their support for health insurance coverage in limited geographical and occupational contexts, with some success. Some of the examples include the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana for BPL cardholders, the Rajiv Aarogyasri Community Health Insurance Scheme in Andhra Pradesh, and the Yeshasvini Cooperative Farmers Health Insurance Scheme in Karnataka,” he stated.
Vice President granted the honorary degree of Doctor of Science to Purushottam Upadhyaya, Snehalata Deshmukh, Hargovind Laxmishanker Trivedi and R.K. Bali. Besides Vice Chancellor and Secretary of University, Governor and Chancellor of the University T.V. Rajeswar was also present in the ceremony.
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