Young Doctors Don’t Want to Go to Rural Areas Because They Feel Ill-Equipped

Monday, September 12, 2016

Recently, there has been several reports on India’s comatose public health system: From a man in Orissa carrying his wife’s body because he was denied a mortuary van to a hospital in Rajasthan where patients are forced to sit outside the hospital and hang their IV bottles from nails hammered into tree trunks, the situation is dismal.

In an interview with HT, president of the Public Health Foundation of India Dr K Srinath Reddy speaks on what ails the public health system and what needs to be done to fix it.

HT: India’s public health system is in a shambles..

KSR: Media reports capture only a few tragedies. Several go unreported. Rural and urban poor as well as tribals are the worst victims of a health system that does not assure universal access, affordability and quality. Even the middle class is not assured of good quality care, even if they incur high out-of-pocket expenditure. The primary health care services are in a state of neglect. Apart from structural health system deficiencies, apathy and even dehumanisation among health care providers makes the poor voiceless victims of an uncaring system.

Source: Hindustan Times (link opens in a new window)

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Health Care