Healthcare System in India: Challenges and Comparison with Australia

This assignment discusses the challenges faced by the Indian healthcare system due to tightening budgets and increasing costs. It also compares the role of the government in healthcare provision between Australia and India. The Indian healthcare system faces challenges in meeting the needs of the most disadvantaged population, including the illiterate and those who stay in rural areas. The state legislature has a duty of providing healthcare to the Indian population, and there are policies for the welfare and funding of the Indian healthcare system. The Indian government takes part in the improvement of the healthcare system and the family welfare by the mission national nutrition mission. Recommendations have been outlined to help improve the Indian healthcare system.

Different countries have different economic development in terms of growth rate and gross
domestic product. This assignment will focus on the issue that faces the healthcare systems in the
context of tightening budgets and increasing cost in the provision of health in the allocated
country (India). A comparison of the role of government in healthcare provision between
Australia and India (the assigned country) will also be covered.
India is considered a developing country both demographically, economically and
epidemiological. Three Major health issues observed with Indian population include
tuberculosis, diabetes and Cancer. Diabetes, a disease that leads to hyperglycemia (Tripathy,
2018), Cancer and tuberculosis have a high mortality rate in India. It also experiences the
following when delivering healthcare services to its population. It has a higher record of fake
medicines as compared to Australia. And therefore, according to McMullan et al., 2018, India
has failed to achieve its health-related Millennium development goals. The Indian healthcare
faces a challenge of meeting the needs of the most disadvantaged Indian population, including
the illiterate and those who stay in the rural areas. According to Bhan et al., (2017), access and
hospitalization in India depend on gender, socio-economic status, the level of education, wealth,
residential and inequalities.
The state legislature has a duty of providing healthcare to the Indian population and not the
government. There are policies for the welfare and the funding of the Indian healthcare system
and include the national health policy and Ayushman Bharat made in 2018 and drives the Indian
government fund. The state legislature promotes health by ensuring that every state is
accountable for increasing its people’s nutritional and living standards and improving public
health as well. (Patel, et al., 2016). India has healthcare funds including Pradhman mantri jan
yojana and Ayushman Bharat.
Moreover, the Indian government takes part in the improvement of the healthcare system and the
family welfare by the mission national nutrition mission. It also provides affordable medicines
and the provision of reasonable treatment implants. A memorandum of understanding to increase
cooperation in the areas of medicine and health has been signed by the Government of India. In
India, compared to Australia, most of the healthcare services are provided by the private sector
and not the government.
Reflection on the lessons learned from the group discussion, lay down the following
recommendations to help improve the model of healthcare services provided in India. They
include getting rid of the inequality such that even those who live in rural areas and those of
different genders may enjoy the same quality of healthcare services. Affordability of the
healthcare services to improve services utilization. India should use the patient-centred care
approach to provide satisfaction to the patients and make the Indian population happy with their
healthcare systems. (Paul, Gogoi & Baruah, 2019). Provision of regular medicines and a standard
price for the medication to be set by the government.
In conclusion, India as a country, phases different problem in the healthcare sector. Besides the
significant diseases that increase the mortality rate. The healthcare system is also affected by
other factors that lead to poor healthcare services offered to the Indian population. The factors

leave the quality healthcare services be provided by the healthcare sector, which makes a limited
population be attended. Some recommendations have been outlined that when implemented, can
help improve the Indian healthcare system to be on par with developed countries such as
Australia.

References.
Bhan, N., Madhira, P., Muralidharan, A., Kulkarni, B., Murthy, G. V. S., Basu, S., & Kinra, S.
(2017). Health needs, access to healthcare, and perceptions of ageing in an urbanizing
community in India: a qualitative study. BMC geriatrics, 17(1), 156.
https://bmcgeriatr.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12877-017-0544-y
McMullan, P., Ajay, V. S., Srinivas, R., Bhalla, S., Prabhakaran, D., & Banerjee, A. (2018).
Improving access to medicines via the Health Impact Fund in India: a stakeholder
analysis. Global health action, 11(1), 1434935.
https://doi.org/10.1080/16549716.2018.1434935
Patel, V., Parikh, R., Nandraj, S., Balasubramaniam, P., Narayan, K., Paul, V. K., ... & Reddy, K.
S. (2015). Assuring health coverage for all in India. The Lancet, 386(10011), 2422-2435.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)00955-1
Paul, D., Gogoi, G., & Baruah, R. (2019). Assessment of the availability of infrastructure,
manpower, materials and knowledge of health care providers regarding child health care
services in the sub centers of a block of Dibrugarh district, Assam. International Journal
Of Community Medicine And Public Health, 6(5), 2264-2269. DOI:
http://dx.doi.org/10.18203/23946040.ijcmph20191855
Tripathy, J. P. (2018). Burden and risk factors of diabetes and hyperglycemia in India: findings
from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. Diabetes, metabolic syndrome and
obesity: targets and therapy, 11, 381. doi: 10.2147/DMSO.S157376