GS paper 2
Syllabus: Issues related to development of social sector involving healthcare
Directions: Totally mains based topic, you can use it as an example in issues related to healthcare.
Context:
- Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) is the most common congenital disorder(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S)
- It is responsible for 28% of all congenital birth defects, and accounts for 6%-10 % of all the infant deaths in India.
Prevalence rate in India:
- According to the Pediatric Cardiac Society of India (PCSI), congenital cardiac anomalies are one in every 100 live births.
Reasons for negligence of Pediatric cardiac-care:
- Economically unviable: Creating a comprehensive pediatric cardiology care service is usually considered economically unviable
- Resource intensive: It requires infrastructure investment that politicians and policymakers choose to evade.
Issues Involved:
- Infrastructure problems: There are 22 hospitals and less than 50 centers in India with infant and neonatal cardiac services.
- Center location: Most centers are located in regions with a lower burden of CHD.
- For instance, Kerala has eight centers offering neonatal cardiac surgeries for an estimated 5(four point five)lakh annual childbirths.
- Populous Uttar Pradesh and Bihar: They do not have a center capable of performing neonatal cardiac surgery.
- Poverty: Transporting sick neonates from States with little or no cardiac care facilities to faraway centers for accurate diagnosis and treatment burdens parents financially.
- Non-availability of equipment: There is the non-availability of crucial equipment that is essential for diagnosis of heart diseases in the unborn.
Congenital heart diseases (CHD):
- They are problems with the heart’s structure that are present at birth.
- They may change the normal flow of blood through the heart.
- Congenital heart defects are the most common type of birth defect.
Way forward:
- Neonatal care and management: Pediatricians say antenatal detection of congenital anomalies is crucial for neonatal care and management.
- So developing related infrastructure is a step in the right direction.
- Learning from states: Kerala’s ‘Hridayam (for little hearts)’, aimed at early detection, management and support to children with CHD
- The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme offers free specialized surgeries.
- The National Health Protection Scheme (Ayushman Bharat): It will financially assist poor families.
- Implementing this scheme is a step forward.
- Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh have already started.
Insta Links:
Mains Links:
Q. Appropriate local community-level healthcare intervention is a prerequisite to achieve ‘Health for All’ in India. Explain.(UPSC 2018)
