page_title: Healthcare in India
section_title: Access to healthcare
hierarchical_section_title: Healthcare in India / Access to healthcare
caption_attribution_description: English: A view of Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) hospital in Thiruvananthapuram
context_page_description: The Indian Constitution makes the provision of healthcare in India the responsibility of the state governments, rather than the central federal government. It makes every state responsible for "raising the level of nutrition and the standard of living of its people and the improvement of public health as among its primary duties".
  The National Health Policy was endorsed by the Parliament of India in 1983 and updated in 2002, and then again updated in 2017. The recent four main updates in 2017 mentions the need to focus on the growing burden of non-communicable diseases, on the emergence of the robust healthcare industry, on growing incidences of unsustainable expenditure due to health care costs and on rising economic growth enabling enhanced fiscal capacity.
  In practice however, the private healthcare sector is responsible for the majority of healthcare in India, and most healthcare expenses are paid directly out of pocket by patients and their families, rather than through health insurance. Government health policy has thus far largely encouraged private-sector expansion in conjunction with well designed but limited public health programmes.
context_section_description: As of 2013, the number of trained medical practitioners in the country was as high as 1.4 million, including 0.7 million graduate allopaths. Yet, India has failed to reach its Millennium Development Goals related to health. The definition of 'access is the ability to receive services of a certain quality at a specific cost and convenience. The healthcare system of India is lacking in three factors related to access to healthcare: provision, utilization, and attainment. Provision, or the supply of healthcare facilities, can lead to utilization, and finally attainment of good health. However, there currently exists a huge gap between these factors, leading to a collapsed system with insufficient access to healthcare. Differential distributions of services, power, and resources have resulted in inequalities in healthcare access. Access and entry into hospitals depends on gender, socioeconomic status, education, wealth, and location of residence (urban versus rural). Furthermore, inequalities in financing healthcare and distance from healthcare facilities are barriers to access. Additionally, there is a lack of sufficient infrastructure in areas with high concentrations of poor individuals. Large numbers of tribes and ex-untouchables that live in isolated and dispersed areas often have low numbers of professionals. Finally, health services may have long wait times or consider ailments as not serious enough to treat. Those with the greatest need often do not have access to healthcare.
caption: Institute of Medical Sciences in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
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