{"id":18993,"date":"2023-11-24T21:48:48","date_gmt":"2023-11-24T16:18:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/current_affairs\/?p=18993"},"modified":"2023-11-24T21:48:51","modified_gmt":"2023-11-24T16:18:51","slug":"universal-health-coverage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/editorial-analysis\/24-11-2023\/universal-health-coverage","title":{"rendered":"Universal Health Coverage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/ Health, Management of Social Sector, Issues Relating to Poverty &amp; Hunger<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>In Context<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The expansion of Universal health coverage will be complex, but data and digital technology can smoothen the way.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Universal Health Coverage<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Meaning:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Universal health coverage (UHC) means that all people have access to the full range of quality health services they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It covers the full continuum of essential health services, from health promotion to prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and palliative care across the life course.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>SDG target:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Achieving UHC is one of the targets the nations of the world set when they adopted the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>UHC in India:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Currently, India aims to attain UHC through the expansion of the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), the flagship publicly financed health insurance (PFHI) scheme of the Union government.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Challenges<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Off-track progress:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The world is off track to make significant progress towards universal health coverage (Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target 3.8) by 2030.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Stagnation:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Improvements to health services coverage have stagnated since 2015, and the proportion of the population that faced catastrophic levels of out-of-pocket health spending increased continuously since 2000.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This global pattern is consistent across all regions and the majority of countries.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Shortage of manpower:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Many Western and Central Asian nations today are staring at acute shortages of manpower in healthcare.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Disruption due to pandemic:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The COVID-19 pandemic further disrupted essential services in 92% of countries at the height of the pandemic in 2021. In 2022, 84% of countries still reported disruptions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Increasing poor and non-poor gap:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A <strong>greater proportion of disposable incomes<\/strong> is taken away from a poor household as compared to a non-poor one,<strong> further broadening the gap <\/strong>between the two.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If <strong>sickness hits a working member<\/strong> of the household, she\/he must often withdraw from active employment and their main source of income dries up at the time when they urgently need more money for treatment.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Households have to <strong>often sell or mortgage their productive assets,<\/strong> such as land and cattle, to cover the treatment costs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>This further reduces their capacity to bounce back.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>According to the WHO, <\/strong>55 million people<strong> fall into poverty or deeper poverty <\/strong>every year due to <strong>catastrophic expenditures on health<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Lesser spending than the Lower and Middle-Income Countries:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India currently spends about Rs 8 lakh crore or about 3.2 percent of its GDP on health.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This is much lower than the average health spending share of the GDP \u2014 at around 5.2 percent of the <strong>Lower and Middle Income Countries (LMIC)<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Comparing the data:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Of this, the government (Centre and states put together) spends about roughly 1.1 percent of the GDP.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Contrast this with the government health expenditure in countries like China (3 percent), Thailand (2.7 percent), Vietnam (2.7 percent) and Sri Lanka (1.4 percent).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Suggestions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Global Initiative on Digital Health:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It is here that India\u2019s leadership in digital health becomes significant. Under India\u2019s G20 presidency, the WHO has launched a <strong>Global Initiative on Digital Health<\/strong> aiming to marshal investments into <strong>digital health<\/strong> and facilitate <strong>regional and international exchange<\/strong> and reporting on health.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Role of India\u2019s Digital Health journey:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India\u2019s own <strong>indigenous digital health movement<\/strong>, the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, preceded this initiative and is steadily gathering steam.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Digital health must be seen as a tool for effectively managing the inevitably complex nature of UHC expansion.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Here, it will have a wide-ranging role to play, right from helping administer diverse contracts to implementing terms for value-based provider reimbursement and incentives.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A robust digital and data infrastructure can address most of the challenges.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Role of AI:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming health care worldwide, and India has the potential to be at the forefront of this revolution.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Diagnostics: <\/strong>One of the key areas where AI can make a significant impact is in diagnostics.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>AI-powered tools can enhance the accuracy and efficiency of medical diagnoses, leading to faster treatment decisions and better patient outcomes.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Predictions &amp; preventions:<\/strong> Additionally, AI can help predict disease outbreaks, analyse health-care data, and optimise treatment plans, expediting health-care procedures, and revolutionising drug discovery ultimately making health care more personalised and effective.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Need of Spreading the digital and data infrastructure:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India is not alone in this journey. Many low- and middle-income countries are also looking to build on their existing systems to expand UHC for their citizens.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Indian example could be instructive for them in terms of policy lessons.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pervasive staff shortages in the West and initiatives such as<strong> \u2018Heal in India\u2019 <\/strong>could <strong>accelerate the medical brain drain <\/strong>even as we suffer major staff shortages of our own.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Need of Private sector participation:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The public sector cannot be the only solution for universal health coverage in India.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Expanding PFHIs would entail bringing a large chunk of the private sector under the public fold.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Multifaceted nature of modern health challenges require multilateral and synergistic coalitions involving both the public and private sectors.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>WHO\u2019s recommendations:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>To build back better, WHO\u2019s recommendation is to reorient health systems using a primary health care (PHC) approach.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Most (90%) of essential UHC interventions can be delivered through a PHC approach, potentially saving 60 million lives and increasing average global life expectancy by 3.7 years by 2030.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Way ahead<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It will be imperative that national interests don\u2019t lose ground to international ambitions and that digital technologies are leveraged to create non-competing solutions that are mindful of the Global South.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Countries need to build on their existing systems, overlaying reforms and best practices incrementally.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>With concerted efforts and a commitment to excellence, a healthier and more prosperous India can be built for generations to come.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Daily Mains Question<\/strong><br><\/span><strong>[Q] <\/strong>Examine the role of data and digital technology in achieving the goal of Universal health coverage (UHC). What are the challenges?<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/24_11_Universal-Health-Coverage.pdf\">Download PDF<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Syllabus: GS2\/ Health, Management of Social Sector, Issues Relating to Poverty &amp; Hunger In Context Universal Health Coverage Challenges Suggestions Way ahead Daily Mains Question[Q] Examine the role of data and digital technology in achieving the goal of Universal health coverage (UHC). What are the challenges?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial-analysis"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18993"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18993\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18998,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18993\/revisions\/18998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}