{"id":58317,"date":"2025-11-03T20:28:54","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T14:58:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=58317"},"modified":"2025-11-04T11:53:29","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T06:23:29","slug":"towards-universal-healthcare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/03-11-2025\/towards-universal-healthcare","title":{"rendered":"Towards Universal Healthcare"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/Health<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>In News<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Investing in healthcare boosts resilience and productivity, helping India achieve affordable universal care and a <strong>Viksit Bharat by 2047.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Universal Health Coverage (UHC)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\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\n\n\n<li>It is a central goal of the <strong>2030 Sustainable Development Agenda,<\/strong> reaffirmed by global leaders in <strong>2019 <\/strong>as essential to sustainable development.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The WHO aims to extend UHC to 1 billion more people by <strong>2025<\/strong>, alongside improving health emergency protection and overall well-being.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Why UHC Is Needed?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India\u2019s vast and diverse population faces significant health disparities. With over 60% of the population dependent on government welfare schemes for basic needs, access to affordable healthcare becomes a critical determinant of well-being.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It aims to ensure equitable access to <strong>essential health services across rural and urban areas. <\/strong>UHC aims to<strong> reduce out-of-pocket expenditure<\/strong>, which often pushes families into poverty.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Various Steps<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <strong>National Health Mission<\/strong>\u2014launched in 2005\u2014establishes community-owned and decentralised health systems to provide accessible, affordable, and quality healthcare services to vulnerable populations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Government of India launched the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/30-10-2021\/ayushman-bharat-pradhan-mantri-jan-arogya-yojana-ab-pmjay\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/30-10-2021\/ayushman-bharat-pradhan-mantri-jan-arogya-yojana-ab-pmjay\">Ayushman Bharat &#8211; Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY)<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0 to achieve universal health care.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It is the <strong>world\u2019s largest public healthcare scheme<\/strong> with crores of vulnerable Indian families enrolled in it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The National Health Policy 2017 <\/strong>addresses changing healthcare challenges in India as technology advances, socio-economic conditions evolve, and disease patterns shift \u2014 such as the rise of lifestyle diseases like non-communicable diseases alongside traditional infectious diseases. In line with this policy,&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Challenges<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Uneven distribution of healthcare infrastructure across states and districts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Shortage of skilled health workers, especially in rural and tribal regions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>High out-of-pocket spending, which still accounts for a significant portion of health expenses.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>India faces rising non-communicable diseases alongside infectious diseases.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>While platforms like eSanjeevani offer telemedicine, many lack access to reliable internet or devices.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Suggestions and the Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is vital for India\u2019s moral, economic, and national progress.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To reach this goal, India must expand coverage to all ages, especially the elderly, strengthen primary healthcare, build public-private partnerships, ensure sustainable health financing, and promote health literacy and preventive care to create an inclusive and resilient health system.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pib.gov.in\/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2185049\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>PIB<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong>In News<\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Investing in healthcare boosts resilience and productivity, helping India achieve affordable universal care and a Viksit Bharat by 2047.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>Universal Health Coverage (UHC)<\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">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.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">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<li class=\"ms-5\">It is a central goal of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, reaffirmed by global leaders in 2019 as essential to sustainable development.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">The WHO aims to extend UHC to 1 billion more people by 2025, alongside improving health emergency protection and overall well-being.<\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/03-11-2025\/towards-universal-healthcare\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read\u00a0More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58317","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\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58317"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58317\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58385,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58317\/revisions\/58385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}