More Rural Women Accessing Public Hospitals: Study

A study by think tank, Brookings India, has found that the number of rural women accessing public healthcare has risen by 24 per cent from 2004 to 2014.

The report aims to systemically analyse health and morbidity in India during a period of rapid change. The decade from 2004 to 2014 saw the Indian economy grow at a rapid rate. Here are some more key findings of the report:

The number of people not using healthcare because of financial reasons dropped to 0.7 of every 1,000 in 2014 from four out of every 1,000 in 2004.

According to the think tank, half of India’s population uses private healthcare, which is four times costlier.

There was a 6 per cent rise in dependence on public healthcare for out patients and 7 per cent for in-patients over the decade, said the report. But Public health centres across India’s rural areas are short of over 3,000 doctors.

The report also said that more Indian men will be admitted to the hospital than women in the last few months of their life. For every 1,000 men whose deaths are certified by medical professionals, there are only 600 women.

Urban households still spend five times more on diagnostics, 2.6 times more on medicines and 2.4 times more on doctors’ fees than do rural households.

Impoverishment caused due to poor health has remained unchanged over the ten-year period.

Households rely less on borrowing and contributions from friends and family to finance their healthcare.

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