Where Should HealthCare Business Be Headed?

We are living in technologically advancing age. Science and technology has made rapid advances in the last one hundred years paving way for a better standard of living and comfort. Medical field too has made significant advances in the field of research, diagnostics as well as all fields of treatments including surgeries, drug based treatments and more importantly therapies using x-ray etc. Common man in a developed society has access to very good medical care facilities thanks to the commercialization of medical business. The hospitals and facilities are run based on commercial model and not based on the service model. Today men and women in developed countries can hope to live healthy beyond age of eighty and enjoy good quality of life.

Does it mean that people all over the world are healthy? The actual fact is that people, especially children and women in the underdeveloped and developing countries are hardly healthy. The major problem faced in the countries like India and other Asian countries as well as in countries like Africa, Latin America etc is the lack of access to primary health care. A developing country like India does not have adequate network of primary health care centers at all villages and rural areas. Though the country produced several thousands of doctors every year, the number of doctors willing to move to serve in the rural areas is very miniscule. Absence of medical network, adequate infrastructure and support as well as the easy reach and access to and from the rural areas prove to be major deterrents in reaching healthcare to the rural villages and people. Similar is the fate of rural villages in Africa too.

One section of population that suffers the most in the absence of primary health care services is the women. Lack of adequate facilities and assistance during pregnancy and childbirth is a major cause of child mortality and pregnancy related deaths and complications. Women need to be educated and equipped to deal with their pregnancy and child care. Lack of hygiene, unsafe methods and procedures followed during pregnancy, lack of knowledge of nutritional needs, risk and exposure to infections and allergies etc have affected the health and mortality of women in rural areas.

Besides the health care needs of rural women, they also require education and awareness regarding sex education. Unsafe sex and lack of adequate knowledge to protect themselves is leading to increase in HIV/AIDS infection amongst women of all ages. The risk of HIV/AIDS is higher amongst the teenage girls and younger women in countries like Africa. An HIV infected mother passes on the infection to her unborn child who is doomed to suffer right from the birth. Lack of adequate health care and education leads to lack of birth control as well. Women end up giving birth to many children within a short span of time. A sick mother and infected children is a sure enough recipe for disaster and tragedy in the family.

If we want to give the best of health care to the humanity, the effort has to begin in the above areas. Improving healthcare access and education to the rural areas, improving the quality of life and health of women in the rural and backward areas is the need of the hour.

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