SSVM INSTITUTIONS

CIVICS LN:2 ROLE OF GOVERNMENT IN HEALTH

Points to remember:
• Health means our ability to remain free from illness.
• In broader sense, health is a state of physical and mental
wellbeing.
• We have public and private health care system.
• Public health care services are run by government. It is lesser in
number and
fewer staff as compared to private.
• Private health care services are expensive and only 20% of the
Indians can
afford all types of health care.
• Kerala provides good health care to people of the state.
• Costa Rica in North America is considered to be one of the
healthiest countries
in the continent.
Answer in short.
1. What are the negative aspects of health care in India?
The negative aspects health care’s in India are:
• Rural people face the crisis of doctors because most doctors settle
in urban
areas. They have to travel long distances to reach a doctor. About five
lakh
people die from tuberculosis every year. Almost two million cases of
malaria
are reported every year.
• Clean drinking water is not available to all. As a result poor people
easily
become prey to various water borne diseases such as diarrhoea,
worms,
hepatitis, etc.,
• Half of all children in India do not get adequate food to eat and are
under nourished.

2. Write down the main features of public health system.

• It provides quality health care services either free or at a low cost
so that even
the poor can seek treatment
• It takes action to prevent the spread of disease such as
tuberculosis,
malaria, jaundice, etc.. Time to time it takes up a campaign to see that
mosquitoes do not breed in water - coders, roof tops etc.
• This system is available in both rural and urban areas.
Answer in detail:
1. Compare public health services with those of private services.
• Public health services are run by the government while private
health services
are managed by the individuals or companies.
• Public health services are found both in rural and urban areas. But
private
health services are concentrated in urban areas.
• Public health services provide facilities either free or at a low cost
that even
poor can seek treatment easily. Thus money making is not a goal of
public
health services. So far private health services are concerned, they are
run
mainly for profit. They usually prescribe expensive medicines,
unnecessary medicines, injections or saline bottles when tablets and
simple medicines can suffice.
• People have to wait for hours in a long queue at the government
hospitals.
But private hospitals are maintained properly where no such long
queues
are found.
Additional questions:
1. What do we need to prevent and treat illness?
2. What is full form of RMPs? Where are they found?
3. What problems do we face in private hospitals? Discuss.
4. Mention some positive aspects of health care in India?
5. How can you say that adequate health care is not available to all?
6. What did the court say in case of Hakeem Sheik?
7. What is Costa Rica approach? Explain.
8. What are the major changes made by the Kerala government in
1996?