An analysis published in The Lancet also finds wide disparities across states
Healthcare access in India has become better between 1990 and 2016 but the country is still placed 145th from among 195 countries analysed. The analysis has been published in The Lancet.
Overall in 2016, the score for India’s healthcare access and quality was 41.2 (up from 24.7 in 1990). The study used an index to measure the quality and accessibility of healthcare, based on 32 causes of death which should be preventable with effective medical care. Each of the 195 countries and territories assessed were given a score between 0-100.
However inequities in healthcare access continue to be growing in the country. India’s gap between the highest and lowest scores on healthcare access and quality increased from 1990 to 2016 (from a 23.4 point difference to a 30.8 point difference). Goa and Kerala had the highest scores in 2016, each exceeding 60 points, whereas Assam and Uttar Pradesh had the lowest, each below 40.
In fact the study found that China and India have the widest disparities in healthcare access and quality with 43.5 and 30.8 point differences, respectively
In fact the study found that China and India have the widest disparities in healthcare access and quality with 43.5 and 30.8 point differences, respectively. India is on the cusp of starting an ambitious two pronged strategy of health protection and prevention through Ayushman Bharat that will address the health needs of more than 10 crore poor families. It is a blueprint for an eventual goal of universal health coverage.
“These results emphasise the urgent need to improve both access to and quality of healthcare, otherwise health systems could face widening gaps between the health services they provide and the disease burden in their population,” says senior author of the study Dr Rafael Lozano, Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, USA. “Now is the time to invest to help deliver health systems for the next generation, and accelerate progress in the Sustainable Development Goal era.”
The five countries with the highest levels of healthcare access and quality in 2016 were Iceland (97.1 points), Norway (96.6), the Netherlands (96.1), Luxembourg (96.0), and Finland and Australia (each with 95.9). While the countries with the lowest scores were the Central African Republic (18.6), Somalia (19.0), Guinea-Bissau (23.4), Chad (25.4), and Afghanistan (25.9).
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