Health Investments to Reduce Health Inequities in India: Do We Need More Evidence?
Large inequities in health outcomes and treatment-seeking behaviour continue to exist in India, across households, states and residence. A few large populous states continue to contribute the most to multi-dimensional poverty, including indicators for health outcomes. A significant contri...
Main Authors: | , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Brandeis University Library
2022-10-01
|
Series: | Caste |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://ojs-prod-app1.unet.brandeis.edu:443/index.php/caste/article/view/441 |
_version_ | 1811247667019251712 |
---|---|
author | Indrani Gupta Avantika Ranjan |
author_facet | Indrani Gupta Avantika Ranjan |
author_sort | Indrani Gupta |
collection | DOAJ |
description |
Large inequities in health outcomes and treatment-seeking behaviour continue to exist in India, across households, states and residence. A few large populous states continue to contribute the most to multi-dimensional poverty, including indicators for health outcomes. A significant contributor is the high out-of-pocket spending that continues to be a key feature of India’s health sector, accompanied by one of the lowest levels of public investment on health. The COVID pandemic has brought out sharply the lack of preparedness of the country and its states to face a catastrophe of this kind. A resilient health sector can only be built by bridging the various gaps in key inputs into the sector – infrastructure, personnel, supplies and training. This investment is likely to bring down the demand for health services in the private sector and reduce spending on health services by households by making these affordable and accessible. A quantum jump in investment would also be required to offer health coverage that is truly universal in scope and coverage. Unless that happens, India would remain unprepared for the next calamity and continue with significant inequalities in health outcomes and access to services.
|
first_indexed | 2024-04-12T15:12:36Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-f9f77d3ca7ee4d2a9ed347cb0ada35d6 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2639-4928 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-04-12T15:12:36Z |
publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
publisher | Brandeis University Library |
record_format | Article |
series | Caste |
spelling | doaj.art-f9f77d3ca7ee4d2a9ed347cb0ada35d62022-12-22T03:27:42ZengBrandeis University LibraryCaste2639-49282022-10-013210.26812/caste.v3i2.441Health Investments to Reduce Health Inequities in India: Do We Need More Evidence?Indrani Gupta0Avantika Ranjan1Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi, IndiaInstitute of Economic Growth, Delhi, India Large inequities in health outcomes and treatment-seeking behaviour continue to exist in India, across households, states and residence. A few large populous states continue to contribute the most to multi-dimensional poverty, including indicators for health outcomes. A significant contributor is the high out-of-pocket spending that continues to be a key feature of India’s health sector, accompanied by one of the lowest levels of public investment on health. The COVID pandemic has brought out sharply the lack of preparedness of the country and its states to face a catastrophe of this kind. A resilient health sector can only be built by bridging the various gaps in key inputs into the sector – infrastructure, personnel, supplies and training. This investment is likely to bring down the demand for health services in the private sector and reduce spending on health services by households by making these affordable and accessible. A quantum jump in investment would also be required to offer health coverage that is truly universal in scope and coverage. Unless that happens, India would remain unprepared for the next calamity and continue with significant inequalities in health outcomes and access to services. https://ojs-prod-app1.unet.brandeis.edu:443/index.php/caste/article/view/441Poverty, inequality, out-of-pocket spending, health outcomes, health financing |
spellingShingle | Indrani Gupta Avantika Ranjan Health Investments to Reduce Health Inequities in India: Do We Need More Evidence? Caste Poverty, inequality, out-of-pocket spending, health outcomes, health financing |
title | Health Investments to Reduce Health Inequities in India: Do We Need More Evidence? |
title_full | Health Investments to Reduce Health Inequities in India: Do We Need More Evidence? |
title_fullStr | Health Investments to Reduce Health Inequities in India: Do We Need More Evidence? |
title_full_unstemmed | Health Investments to Reduce Health Inequities in India: Do We Need More Evidence? |
title_short | Health Investments to Reduce Health Inequities in India: Do We Need More Evidence? |
title_sort | health investments to reduce health inequities in india do we need more evidence |
topic | Poverty, inequality, out-of-pocket spending, health outcomes, health financing |
url | https://ojs-prod-app1.unet.brandeis.edu:443/index.php/caste/article/view/441 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT indranigupta healthinvestmentstoreducehealthinequitiesinindiadoweneedmoreevidence AT avantikaranjan healthinvestmentstoreducehealthinequitiesinindiadoweneedmoreevidence |