NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Thursday, August 4, 2016

An independent project is increasing access to healthcare in rural India.

A good quality healthcare system and access to it by the impoverished is a widely-discussed issue, with governments across the world working toward resolving it. India, with its population of approximately 1.2 billion people, is seeing an improvement in public healthcare but, with a population set to be the largest in the world by 2028, there is still much to be done.

A nation with such a large and diverse population faces a multitude of problems, and the government simply does not have the ability to take care of everyone. Sometimes political differences between the center and the states and bureaucratic red tape cause inefficiencies at various levels. This makes the employment of independent organizations without political affiliations essential for the livelihood goals of the nation’s poor and underrepresented citizens.

SEVAK PROJECT TAKES ROOT: When Dr. Padmini Balagopal spent six months doing a lifestyle modification training with the villagers of Karakhdi, in Gujarat, India, she found a success of lifestyle modification excursionin lowering the rates of diabetes.