Deaths Caused by Poor Healthcare
Catherine Rong
Over the past few years, India has
displayed growing self reliance and has gained more acknowledgements from other
world powers. However, even after more than five decades of self-governance, India’s
health progresses are not outstanding. The causes of death are due to
large-scale poverty and failure of government healthcare policies.
According to Gethin Chamberlain,
India’s state healthcare was supposed to be opened to all and supply both the
rich and poor with the necessary healthcare, but to date they have failed to do
that. (Chamberlain) They have not been out to reach the slum areas and get them
the healthcare they deserve. While
government hospitals offer high standards of care, are overcrowded, and if they
are short of the required medicines, patients are asked to pay for themselves. (Chamberlain) Under the circumstances for
the poor, receiving medical attention is near impossible. As a result India’s
death toll rises. This is something that should not be happening but
unfortunately it is, due to the healthcare being unattended by the
government. In the meantime, private health care has surged and now accounts
for the majority of India's medical provision, giving access to the best
facilities one for those who can afford to pay for it.
Healthcare is considered a
luxury in India. Economically, people who live in slums are too far from
the hospitals to receive treatment. With no way to use public transportation,
the Indian people turn to “cheap, unreliable, and unregulated” (Chamberlain)
doctors for a cure. There, they are being vaccinated with syringes used more
than 10 times on different people with different diseases. (Aparajita)
This leads them to get more illnesses and exposes them to death much
faster. While "India's economy will be the fastest-growing by next year… it ranks
171st out of 175 countries for public health spending”
(Chamberlain) the poor are disproportionately affected
due to the country’s failing to provide adequate healthcare for the low income
majority of its one billion people.
Works Cited:
Aparajita, A.V. Ramanakumar: Burden Of Disease In Rural India: An Analysis Through Cause Of Death. The Internet Journal of Third World Medicine. 2005 Volume 2 Number 2 Web. 07 May 2012
Chamberlain, Gethin. "Two Million Slum Children Die Every Year as India Booms." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 03 Oct. 2009. Web. 07 May 2012.http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/04/india-slums-children-death-rate;.
Catherine I agree with what you're saying about the major causes of death in India are. However, I believe that the health care problem in India is a bigger factor than the poverty because if they had good health care then even the poverty can benefit from it. If the government showed more effort into trying to fix healthcare for everyone in the country, it will extremely help. In an article published in Star Tribune the author stated "There also are some basic things they need, like vaccinations. If one child gets Rubella, it could wipe out the entire community." (Crosby) which just shows that the lack of government help is the reason for these death causes.
ReplyDeleteWork Cited
Crosby, Jackie. "Business." A Glimpse of Health Care in India. Star Tribune. Web. 08 May 2012. .
Radhika Kapadia
ReplyDelete-Catherine, your statistics about healthcare are astounding. While healthcare is considered a right and priority in western countries such as Canada and America, it is considered, as you mentioned, a luxury in Southeast Asia. The inequity in healthcare is appalling, to say the least. With an increasingly widening wealth gap in India, addressing the problem of healthcare is necessary. As a global powerhouse in industry and medicine, emulating both the British and American advancements, India has access to extensive medicinal innovations that can ease the burden of its people, but the underlying problem remains that those who need it most do not have access to it. The wealthy have access to luxury hospitals that rival those of America and Europe. One example is the Ambani Hospital located in Mumbai. A product of financial mogul Anil Ambani, a graduate of Columbia Business School, the hospital offers “the availability and access to the best medical talent around the clock,” as stated by their web page (Ambani). It’s clearly implied that this access to care is available to those who can afford their exorbitant fees; as mentioned in my previous post, a farmer with a monthly income of 50 US dollars or less can clearly not afford to buy a small meal at the hospital, let alone any form of healthcare. Your point about how the poor turn to “cheap, unreliable” doctors is valid. Many turn to municipal government funded hospitals, which often, as you mention, recycle syringes and practice unsanitary conduct in the health profession.
- One issue that leads to poverty that I believe we also need to address is geography, though it is less significant in comparison to economic and political factors. Historically, India has been home to a geographically tumultuous region that has stimulated political divisions (i.e Mauryans, Guptas, Moguls, etc). However, geography now plays a different role in regard to poverty. Aside from being politically divisive, geography has funded environmental issues in India, including acid rain. An area such as Mumbai, which is one of the fueling centers of commercialism in India, has a quarter of its land mass under sea level (Geography of Mumbai). As a subcontinent surrounded by water, India takes advantage of its surroundings, and often uses water power as a way to further industry within the nation. However, this continued commercialization has had adverse affects on the nation’s poverty stricken population. Acid rain, one example of a product of excessive pollution in industrialized cities, has caused numerous diseases in India. A similar situation appeared in Britain during the Industrial Revolution in the mid 1800s (Acid Rain). India’s continued commercialization is having adverse affects on its citizens, and causing an inescapable cycle of poverty and disease for them.
Works Cited:
Ambani. "Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital." Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital
Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group. Web. 09 May 2012. .
"Geography of Mumbai." Mumbai Geography. Web. 09 May 2012. .
"Acid Rain." About.com Geography. Web. 09 May 2012. .
Michael
ReplyDeleteCatherine, I agree with your problems with healthcare, but you forgot to address the social implications to the issue, especially with indian women. Many patriarchal traditions in India focus on the feeling that the men are more important than the women. In terms of health care, the tradition states that men, despite the seriousness of the woman's problem, must always receive health care first (Coonrad). These patriarchal traditions are especially set in stone in rural india, where most deaths due to disease and starvation occur.
Work Cited
Coonrad, Carol S. "Chronic Hunger and the Status of Women in India." Empowering Women and Men to End Their Own Hunger. The Hunger Project, June 1998. Web. 08 May 2012.
After reading the posts, my perspective on healthcare has broadened.
ReplyDeleteStacy, healthcare availability is a bigger factor than poverty itself. Had the government made healthcare more affordable or gave aid to the poor, poverty would not be an issue.
Radhika, the uneven distribution of wealth is also a flaw with India's society. The capitalistic system makes it so only the wealthy have the opportunity to afford healthcare.
Michael, you have a point in bringing social aspects in the healthcare conflict. The gender inequality gives poor to none aid to women, making them die the most.
Thank you all for your input.