India dropped two spots to 131 among 189 countries in the 2020 human development index, according to a report released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Human Development Index (HDI) is the measure of a nation’s health, education, and standards of living.
The HDI was created to emphasize that people and their capabilities should be the ultimate criteria for assessing the development of a country, not economic growth alone.
HDI is a summary measure of average achievement in key dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, being knowledgeable, and have a decent standard of living.
The health dimension is assessed by life expectancy at birth. Life expectancy for Indian’s at birth was 69.7 years in 2019, slightly lower than the South Asian average of 69.9 years, but slightly higher than the average of medium human development index groupings in the world at 69.3 years, the report said. Bangladesh has a life expectancy of 72.6 years and Pakistan 67.3 years.
The coronavirus pandemic has brought to fore several loopholes of the Indian healthcare system. The current strain on the public healthcare system calling for an urgent need to address this shortfall.
The report suggests that indigenous children in Cambodia, India, and Thailand show more malnutrition-related issues such as stunting and wasting. Also, the different responses in parent behaviour India have led to disinvestment in girls’ health and education, and this does results in higher malnutrition among girls than among boys.
Talking to reporters, UNDP Resident Representative Shoko Noda said the drop in India’s ranking doesn’t mean “India didn’t do well but other countries did better”.
India ranks 145th among 195 countries in terms of quality and accessibility of healthcare
According to a Lancet study, India ranks 145th among 195 countries in terms of quality and accessibility of healthcare, behind its neighbours like China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan.
According to the study, India performed poorly in tackling cases of tuberculosis, rheumatic heart diseases, Ischemic heart diseases, stroke, testicular cancer, colon cancer and chronic kidney disease among others.
The study highlighted large disparities in primary healthcare fabric in urban slums and rural areas and emphasizes to improve both access to and quality of health care across service areas and for all populations.
Lancet Report suggests that health systems could face widening gaps between the health services they provide and the disease burden experienced by local communities.
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.
Covid and lockdown protocols aimed at containing the virus’s spread have also cost large population access to healthcare and key sources of nutrition or micronutrients.
Doctor-Patient ratio in India less 1:1000 in 2019
There is one doctor for every 1,445 Indians as per the country’s current population estimate of 135 crore, which is lower than the WHO’s prescribed norm of one doctor for 1,000 people, the government told Parliament on Tuesday.
Replying to a written question in the Rajya Sabha, Union Minister of State for Health Ashwini Choubey said a total of 11,59,309 allopathic doctors were registered with the state medical councils and the Medical Council of India (MCI) as on March 31.
Way Forward
The Covid-19 has put both lives and livelihood at stake. With a shortage of food supply, and disruption of supply chains led to poor access to sufficient food and likely impact on food security.
Achieving healthcare and good nutrition to all should be the priority and one of the key routes to achieving a resilient and improved food system requires a reorientation of relevant policies.