How can the government become a lifeline for the poor?
Chandigarh: 13th September 2024: (K K Singh//The Tours and Travels Desk)::
When the pocket is empty and some illness surrounds us badly, then the question that arises in the mind is that if only a doctor or hospital would come as a lifeline for us. Many times this happens but does the Asian miracle happen with everyone every time in every case? We tried to put such a question in front of the society and the government. How can civil hospitals and other government health institutions in Punjab and other Indian states become a lifeline for the protection of the health of the poor and middle class people? In the efforts to find the answer, some useful things also came to the fore.
One fact was that government health institutions in Punjab and other Indian states, like civil hospitals, can play an important role for the poor and middle class people. Many improvements can be made and new steps can be taken to make this successful.
For this purpose, increasing the access to health services is at the first place. Civil hospitals and other government institutions should be opened in large numbers in both rural and urban areas so that everyone can easily get health services. The number of health institutions is less in comparison to the population and so is the number of doctors. Along with this, many essential medicines are also not available to everyone. They can be bought in the market with the prescription of a doctor from a hospital or dispensary. But only expensive medicines are available.
Steps like mobile health vans should also be taken to increase access to patients so that health services can reach people living in remote areas as well. This is the only way to have effective access to remote villages and towns which will benefit more people.
Improvement of infrastructure in hospitals has also become necessary now. In the modern era, government hospitals will have to be brought at par with big and expensive hospitals. For this purpose, investments should also be made to improve the availability of modern equipment and the quality of medical services. For this investment, capable sponsors have also been found from villages and cities.
To bring government health institutions at par with private sector in the society, priority should be given to cleanliness and management of hospitals so that there are no infections and other problems. This will also create a new trust in these institutions psychologically. People will also be more attracted.
It would be great if free and affordable medical services can also be provided. The government should provide essential medicines, tests and treatment free of cost or at affordable prices in all government hospitals, especially for the poor and middle class people. Poor and middle class people should be linked to health insurance schemes so that they do not have to bear the financial burden. For this purpose, technical complications and nuances should also be reduced if not completely eliminated.
Adequate number of doctors and medical staff must also be met in these health institutions run under the supervision of the government. There should be adequate number of doctors, nurses and other staff in government health institutions. For this, the process of recruitment and training of medical staff should also be improved.
Taking advantage of modern age technologies, modern technology like telemedicine should also be used. Using this, consultation with specialist doctors should be done in remote areas so that it is easy to form a collective opinion of many doctors for the patient.
For this purpose, the health awareness campaigns run from time to time should also be faster and wider. To increase awareness about health and hygiene among the people, the government should also organize health camps and awareness campaigns regularly. Preventive health services, such as vaccination and regular health checkups, should also be emphasized so that diseases can be prevented.
Along with this, digitization of hospitals should also be done on an initiative basis. Health services should be made available digitally, such as online appointment booking, maintenance of medical records, and tele-consultation facilities should also be available. This will bring transparency in health services and people will get services smoothly.
In this era, the greatest need is to respect all health and medical paths. Inclusion of local and traditional health services will bring good results. Ayurveda, yoga and other traditional systems of medicine should be included in government hospitals so that people can also benefit from alternative treatments.
Along with all these reforms, the government should increase the budget allocation for health and there is a need to constantly monitor the quality of health services. This can make civil hospitals and other government health institutions a powerful lifeline for the poor and middle class people.
