70% rural Indians to be deprived of accessibility to hospitals, medicines till 2040: ASSOCHAM report

NEW DELHI: Around 70 per cent of rural Indians are expected not to have easy accessibility to the hospitals and medicines until at least 2040, as per the report revealed by the ASSOCHAM Council on Healthcare and Hospitals.

As per the report, India has an average 0.6 doctors per 1000 population against the global average of 1.23 which suggests an evident manpower gap. India's healthcare infrastructure is highly inadequate comparing global standards. In terms of healthcare infrastructure and manpower, it lags far behind the global average.

The report also underlines the major obstacles to health care accessibility which comprise limited means of transportation, infrastructure, cost of health care and gender discrimination makes women the less privileged section with regards to healthcare and more exposed to various diseases and associated mortality.

However in China, the doctors density (number 1000) is 1.7, in India it is 0.6 whereas the USA has 2.7 and 2.1 in the UK. The hospitals bed density in China is 3.0, India is 1.27, USA 3.1 and UK 3.9.

In comparison with the global, developed and other similar emerging economies, India's healthcare spending is significantly low. The Indian healthcare spending is less than half the global average in percentage terms when compared on a percent of GDP basis. India 4.10 per cent, China 4.30 per cent, Brazil 8.40 per cent, UK 8.40 per cent, Global 9.70 per cent and USA 15.70 per cent. 

India's public health care spending is 26.20 per cent where as in China 44.70 per cent, Brazil 41.8- per cent, UK 81.70 per cent, Global 59.60 per cent, USA 45.50 per cent.  The private health care spending in India is 73.80 per cent where as in China 55.30 per cent, Brazil 58.40 per cent, UK 18.30 per cent, Global 40.40 per cent, and USA 54.50 per cent.

Furthermore, the healthcare spending analysed by ASSOCHAM on a per capita basis is amongst the lowest globally. The spending is examined both in terms of USD (at average exchange rate conversion) and in terms of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP).