A new book covers overburdened public hospitals, expensive private hospitals, and healthcare ethics

A 2018 study on mortality due to low-quality health systems reveals that almost 122 Indians per lakh die due to poor quality of care each year. This means that India’s death rate due to poor care quality is worse than that of Brazil (74), Russia (91), China (46) and South Africa (93), and even its neighbours Pakistan (119), Nepal (93), Bangladesh (57) and Sri Lanka (51).

While many of the challenges are not unique to India, it is a shame that even after decades of Independence, we still are woefully underequipped when it comes to healthcare delivery.

Here are a few hard truths:

• 95 per cent of healthcare facilities in India function with less than five workers. Only 817 (from over approximately 60,000) hospitals in the country operate with quality certifications.

• Essential diagnostics such as mammograms have a scant 1 per cent coverage across India. h

• Healthcare professionals in rural areas with requisite formal medical training do not provide significantly higher-quality care when compared to informal providers or quacks.

• Private sector care does not necessarily translate to better quality of care.

• Lack of universal health coverage, access and affordability across the country remains a major challenge.

The National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH) was set up in 2005 to establish...

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