HEALTH SERVICES IN INDIA

*Sharma Surinder Mohan (Brig)

ABSTRACT

India being a large populous country with a population of 1.3 billion, health services are stretched to maximum strain within existing insufficient resources. Despite limitation of effective and advanced systematised infrastructure great strides have been made in providing minimum basic health care to its citizens from birth till end. Implementation of Bhore Committee proposals (1946) to improve our health delivery system all over the country and subsequent National Health policy drafted in 1983 have improved the scenario of health care in India. Further National Rural and Urban Health Care Missions have reduced infant mortality rates, improved Mother and Child Health Care, controlled communicable diseases, improved immunisation programme, reduced morbidity and mortality due to Tuberculosis, created awareness about life style diseases and its prevention, opened up a chain of AIIMS all over the country besides creating total of 643 Medical Colleges both in Public and Private sectors having total of 99763 MBBS seats thus expanding and modernising health care delivery. India offers the state of the art high tech therapeutic care through numerous tertiary care centers all over the country in select urban areas. Health services in India are provided by both the Union Government and State Governments, each having distinct areas of responsibilities. Successful health care delivery can only be possible by preventing diseases by creating awareness, mass screening programmes, holding medical camps and universal literacy besides reaching to disadvantaged communities living in rural areas and remote settlements. To achieve higher goals for improving health care financial outlay for health services must reach global standards of developed nations.

Keywords: Health care needs, Health services in India, National health mission, Health awareness, Problems of health care delivery system.