Regardless of the progress the country has seen in the healthcare, the Economic Survey admits that the gains are not only uneven across regions and gender but also inadequate by international comparison. This could be improved by providing unique identity proof cards to the marginalised sections, the survey recommends. ?The country?s health-related indicators would suggest that significant gains have been made over the years. However, despite the progress, India fares poorly in most of the indicators in comparison with a number with a number of developing countries like China and Sri Lanka,? the Economic Survey said.
In the latest Human Development Index report, India?s life expectancy stands at 63 years compared with China?s 73, Brazil?s 72, Poland?s 75, Sri Lanka?s 74 and Vietnam?s 74. The document confessed that the progress in health indicators has been quite uneven across regions with large-scale inter-state variations, with gender differences plaguing access to healthcare and has gaping rural-urban disparities. Also, it points out inadequacies in health infrastructure, including shortage of personnel that resulted in glaring gaps in coverage and outreach of services, especially in the rural areas. While commending the increased patient outflow at primary health centres & community health centres and improved institutional deliveries and immunisation, as observed by a Comptroller and Auditor General Report, the Survey took a serious note of the loopholes therein.
Although the National Rural Health Mission initiated decentralised bottom-up planning, the district-level annual plans remained unprepared during 2005-08 in nine states; while in 24 states and UTs, the block- and village-level annual plans were yet to be chalked out. Funds for local action through untied grants and annual maintenance grants to health centres remained mostly unspent. The Survey recommends that the use of unique identity cards, presently being worked upon by Nandan Nilekani-led Unique Identification Authority of India, could improve delivery of services provided by government?s flagship programmes to the marginalised sections. The document notes the non-implementation of quick response mobile medical units, meant to extend medical care access to the patient?s doorstep in far-flung areas.
