'New approach to healthcare needed' : Dr.  Singh
Speaker: Dr.Manmohan Singh
Date: April 7, 2005 New Delhi

'New approach to healthcare needed' : Dr.  Singh Hindi Version "Public office has been sometimes defined as private education at public expense and in matters relating to health, I don't claim any expertise. But I was associated with a very influential report prepared by the WHO some years ago and I was a member of that Committee. I came to know the vital role that the World Health Organisation is playing in moulding world public opinion to make it possible for humanity acting collectively and. through national efforts, to avoid wasteful paternity unnecessary deaths of children and mothers and to evolve a global strategy to deal with the challenges that world community faces on matters relating to health. We in developing countries have the problem of communicable diseases; insufficient supply of water itself causes large number of deaths and illness. Superimposed upon these classical maladies, we are now face to face with the diseases emerging out of changing lifestyles. So it becomes all the more necessary for all of us to think about ways and means as to how we can work together to evolve affordable healthcare strategies suiting the needs and genius of all communities. We live in an age where human knowledge is increasing at an explosive pace and this was unthinkable even two decades ago. And one important development in the area of healthcare particularly in areas relating to research in medicine and pharmaceutical issues, the growing privatisation of science and technology in the area of health. This raises problems. How can countries as poor as ours have access to new medicines at affordable costs? I think we have to find new ways and means whereby the world rewards those who are engaged in doing research, which has large-scale externalities. At the same time, the world has also an obligation to find practical ways and means that these new medicines become available to people in poor countries at affordable costs. So in all these matters, there is need for some fresh thinking. We have to enlarge, what I consider, the category of international public good. These are issues, I hope, will receive the attention they deserve. I compliment the WHO for having chosen India to release the World Health Report - 2005. As I said a moment ago, health is emerging as a major an area of concern all over the world, more so in the developing countries where ill health and poverty are mutually reinforced. All over the world the traditional Western oriented health care system with its strong emphasis on hospital care and curative approach is proving to be much too expensive even in developed countries. I believe it is much more so in our country. So we have to find a new approach to healthcare to make it affordable and accessible to all segments of our society so that the health for all ceases to be merely a buzzword; and it does require operational significance. I hope the World Health Organization will play a pioneering role in realizing this new vision. The World Health Organization and UNICEF, I am very happy that we have with us Her Excellency the representative of UNICEF, have both been focussing much needed international attention on the need to invest more attention and resources in the mother and the child. Issues of maternal mortality, infant mortality, gender bias in sex selection, status of pre-natal and ante-natal care, immunization and ensuring safe institutional deliveries are all key concerns that have been rightly flagged by both the WHO and the work of UNICEF and are also part of our own National Health Policy. The major tragedy that the Public Health system in our country has faced is the fragmentation of comprehensive healthcare. We have gone about addressing specific diseases and in many cases with some success. But in the process, I have the fear that we have eroded the linkages that are self-evident in public health. A health and sanitary environment, hike in consciousness, availability of safe drinking water, nutrition, effective and affordable access to public healthcare, all of these are key elements that contribute to building a healthy society. In this country, we are attempting to restore this vision of comprehensive health care to be taken up on a mission-oriented mode in the rural areas of our country where we will also leverage the energies of our decentralised system of governance called the Panchayati Raj institution, may be effectively used in their capacity to mediate local action in the management of people's health. Through this proposed National Rural Health Mission to be launched, which my colleague the hon'ble Minister, mentioned a moment ago, we hope that this mission can be launched later this month and we hope to make this long-awaited architectural correction and restore a holistic vision of public health which has been our shared concern. The National Common Minimum Programme of our Government is committed to enhancing resources for the sector of health and ensuring outcomes within stipulated timeframe. Once again, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for choosing India to release your report, which will contribute to increasing public consciousness in this vital issue and also promote such far more innovative strategies to meet the challenges of our times in the field of health. I wish you all success. May your noble part be blessed !"