Public Health in India : An Overview

• Main Author: Das Gupta, Monica
• Language: English
• Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2005
• Subjects: BUDGET CONSTRAINTS; CANCER; CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES; CHILD MORTALITY; CLINICAL SERVICES; CLINICS; COMMUNICABLE DISEASES; CONTAGIOUS DISEASES; DRAINAGE; ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT; ECONOMICS; ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT; ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION; EPIDEMICS; EXPENDITURES; FAMILY PLANNING; HEALTH BUDGETS; HEALTH CARE; HEALTH CARE FINANCING; HEALTH CONDITIONS; HEALTH EDUCATION; HEALTH INDICATORS; HEALTH LEGISLATION; HEALTH OUTCOMES; HEALTH PLANNING; HEALTH POLICIES; HEALTH POLICY; HEALTH PROGRAMS; HEALTH REGULATIONS; HEALTH SECTOR; HEALTH SERVICE; HEALTH SERVICES; HEALTH SYSTEMS; HEALTH WORKERS; HYGIENE; IMMUNIZATION; LIFE EXPECTANCIES; LIFE EXPECTANCY; LIVESTOCK; LOCAL GOVERNMENT; MALE HEALTH; MEDICAL CARE; MEDICAL RESEARCH; MEDICAL SERVICES; MEDICAL STAFF; MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY; MEDICAL TRAINING; MORBIDITY; MORTALITY; MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS; Avian flu
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10986/8541; http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2005/12/6452006/public-health-india-overview

Public health services, which reduce a population's exposure to disease through such measures as sanitation and vector control, are an essential part of a country's development infrastructure. In the industrial world and East Asia, systematic public health efforts raised labor productivity and life expectancies well before modern curative technologies became widely available, and helped set the stage for rapid economic growth and poverty reduction. The enormous business and other costs of the breakdown of these services are illustrated by the current global epidemic of avian flu, emanating from poor poultry-keeping practices in a few Chinese villages. For various reasons, mostly of political economy, public funds for health services in India have been focused largely on medical services, and public health services have been neglected. This is reflected in a virtual absence of modern public health regulations and of systematic planning and delivery of public health services. Various organizational issues also militate against the rational deployment of personnel and funds for disease control. There is strong capacity for dealing with outbreaks when they occur, but not to prevent them from occurring. Impressive capacity also exists for conducting intensive campaigns, but not for sustaining these gains on a continuing basis after the campaign. This is illustrated by the near eradication of malaria through highly organized efforts in the 1950s, and its resurgence when attention shifted to other priorities such as family planning. This paper reviews the fundamental obstacles to effective disease control in India and indicates new policy thrusts that can help overcome these obstacles.