Healthcare in Post COVID India: A Call for a Decentralized Healthcare System, India

TARGET GROUP: HEALTHCARE SYSTEM

OBJECTIVES

·        To redesign a decentralized, distributed and responsive health care system.

SUMMARY

Following the recognition of COVID‑19 as a pandemic and its rapid spread, the Government of India announced a nationwide lockdown in March 2020. Restriction of movement and fear of contracting COVID‑19 made it difficult for families to access healthcare for non‑COVID illnesses. Many private healthcare providers closed their facilities to them, and government health facilities significantly reduced scope of their services. In the first few months of lockdown, safe management of childbirths, immunization services and notification of tuberculosis reduced significantly. Far fewer patients presented themselves at cancer hospitals for treatment, and patients requiring eye care stayed away from hospitals. In the second wave of the pandemic as well, access and availability of healthcare other than for emergency treatment of COVID reduced significantly. There are settings, however, where provision of healthcare was either less affected, saw an increased demand, or bounced back quickly during the pandemic and consequent lockdown. We are associated with three such organizations in India, cutting across levels (primary, secondary and tertiary), domains of healthcare (eye care, cancer care and primary healthcare) and geographic settings (remote rural, rural and urban). Based on these experiences, we argue for a decentralized and distributed health care system in the post‑COVID India.

REFERENCE

www.jfmpc.com