Programmes to counter malaria, like the National Anti-Malarial Programme (NAMP) are hampered by acute fund shortage. And poor health service systems.

TB…still going strong!
India accounts for one-third of all the TB cases reported in the world. About fifteen million Indians have TB and 2.2 million more are infected every year.Experts predict that TB deaths may go up to as many as four million in the coming years.

The National TB Control Programme (NTCP) languishes for want of funds and lack of proper strategy and implementation. Even though a revised programme has been started with the help of the World Health Organisation—its reach to the people who are most affected is still very limited.

Nutrition…or lack of it!
The diseases spread like wildfire among a huge portion of India’s people, because they are too weak to fight them! Why? They either don’t get enough to eat, or their daily meals fail to provide the basic nutrients that are required to build up a strong immune system! Women and children are particularly vulnerable to nutritional deficiencies. About 74 per cent of the children in India, suffer from anaemia. Malnutrition accounts for more than 50 per cent of child deaths.

Who takes care of healthcare?
This is only the tip of the iceberg. Like the TB, malaria and nutrition programmes, most other public health initiatives, too, have fallen far short of their set targets.

Why? You can find the answer yourself. If you just glance back at the last page, you will realise that the term ’fund shortage’ has cropped up more than once. Yes. The Indian government spends too little on essential health services. Again, basic figures prove this fact. In our country, out of the total amount spent on health, only 18 per cent comes from the government treasury. This service is provided free of cost to people around the country. But this ridiculously small amount accounts for a miniscule 0.9 per cent of India’s Gross Domestic Product.

And a whopping 82 per cent of the total spend on health is accounted for by the private sector—which, of course, charges fees for services rendered. In other words, the Indian people—rich, middle-income, poor, very poor—are largely left to fend for themselves on the healthcare front…

Because going by the statistics available, government spends less than Rs. 200 per person’s health. In India, in fact, the proportion of population paying for its own health-related costs is higher than anywhere in the world.