Primary Health Care Practice in Developing Countries

Running head: PRIMARY HEALTH CARE PRACTICE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
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PRIMARY HEALTH CARE PRACTICE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRY
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PRIMARY HEALTH CARE PRACTICE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
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Introduction
India is a country found in South of Asia. It is the seventh largest country in the world in
terms of size and comes second in terms of population after China. It is also ranked as the
most democratic nation in the world. This essay is concerned with India’s political, social and
economic history as well as some of the challenges that the country is facing (Kulke &
Rothermund 2016).
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India’s demographic profile
Based on the most recent UN data, India’s population is estimated at around 1.37 billion
(Anjana et al 2017). Located in South Asia, India is bordered by the Arabian Sea, the Bay of
Bengal and the Indian Ocean. Other countries like China, Nepal, Pakistan, Myanmar, and
Bhutan also India. In the world, India is known to be the 2nd populated country having 1.3
billion residents and the 7th largest in terms of size.
One of every six people in the world resides in India. The country’s population grew by
17.6% between 2001 and 2011 summing up to 181.6 million inhabitants. The population has
increased twice its size within a span of forty years and according to statistics, and in the next
couple of years it is expected to be the most populated nation, overtaking China. At the
moment, 1.08 percent is the growth rate of India annually (Coale & Hoover 2015).
The effect of immigration or emigration to the Republic of India has been negligible on
the overall growth of population throughout recent history. However, in India, migration of
people from impoverished regions to areas offering some promise of economic improvement,

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especially cities has been the reason behind differential growth rates from one region or state
to another (Llull 2017).
Another class of migrants is the refugees. Some date back in the year 1947, part of India
and many others, mostly West Bengal and Assam from the forceful separation in 1971 of
Bangladesh from Pakistan. Others are still internal refugees due to other forms of ethnic strife
and communal violence that occasionally affect many parts of India.
The country is facing the challenge of the aging population as it moves closer to being the
most populated nation in the universe (Prince et al 2015). According to research, India may
have close to twenty percent population comprising of sixty years and above thirty years from
now. Recently, the government issued a statement that the country is projected to have thirty-
four crore people above sixty years of age by the year 2050. This would be more than the
total population of the USA.
There are three age groups in the population: senior age- 59 years and above, children-
under the age of fifteen years and working-age- fifteen to fifty-nine years. The number of
females to males helps in determining the population's sex ratio (Sharma & Bothra 2017).
Epidemiological profile
The health profile of India appeared promising at the close of the 20th century (Thrusfield
2018). Great improvements in nutrition, health and socio-economic status of the citizens and
success in eradication, control, and eradication of lethal illness greatly led to demographic
and epidemiological changes scrutinized in the Republic of India. In the science of control
and spread of diseases, BOD is concerned about the magnitude and nature of the problem of
the public health posed by injuries and diseases, associated risk factors and their dominance.
Furthermore, BOD has been of significant importance when it comes to measuring mortality

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and morbidity rates. BOD in India has been contributed by numerous factors. Environmental
factors, host factors the interplay of agent resulted in a dynamic state of disease and health.
Coming up of diseases which are new are mostly organism caused which are found in the
natural ecosystem and altered conditions in the ecology make them easily transmitted from
one person to another (Ortega 2018). Due to malnutrition, inadequate environmental
sanitation, and poor living conditions among others, India has experienced reduced host
defense mechanisms and diseases which can be easily controlled have become a big problem
in the country. For instance, organisms which are resistant have led to a widespread of
malaria because of the existence of various infectious strains.
Another perfect example is the burden of respiratory infections. Changes in the
environment as a result of day to day human activities interfered with the bio-ecology where
they live. Depletion of natural resources, toxic emissions from automobiles and large
dumping and influx of wastes from industries heavily contributed to the burden of respiratory
diseases that Indians suffer from.
Some other factors which have contributed to re-emergence and emergence of diseases
include the following:
Improved mobility of goods and people by land, sea or land due to international travel has
increasingly spread infectious diseases like influenza and malaria (Jacobs & Padavic 2015).
Change in roadways projects, water eco-system due to economic development
programmes has left many Indians homeless, cutting down of trees has resulted in flooding,
drought climate change as well as famine. A case in point is the development Rajasthan canal
system which has contributed to huge epidemics of malaria (Bayley 2015).