Health a glaring hole in election discourse, say experts
medical emergencies, but as India gears up for the Lok Sabha polls, health remains conspicuously absent from the election discourse, feel experts. Not only are most parties seemingly uninterested in prioritising commitments on health in their poll agenda, even the voter on the street appears to be unaware of healthcare rights, the public health experts say.
The result is that election after election, medical infrastructure and services leave a lot to be desired.
«Public health issues have traditionally not been a prominent poll agenda in India due to various factors. The most vocal sections of society 'the educated middle class' often do not access public health services, instead preferring the private sector. Hence, demands to improve government health services are not raised strongly,» Dr Abhay Shukla, national co-convenor of Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, told PTI.
Healthcare has suffered in the absence of adequate allocations in the Union budget under successive governments, the experts said.
India has a heavy disease burden with a WHO report stating that the country accounts for one-fifth of the total deaths occurring from stroke and ischemic heart disease, especially in younger adults.
Also, more than around 57 per cent of women (15-49 years) and 67 per cent of children (below 5 years) are anaemic, according to the National Family Health Survey 5 data, Sourindra Mohan Ghosh, assistant professor at the Council for Social Development, stated.
Not only that, the NFHS data points to a wide incidence of hypertension
