PRUDENCE ASHOK VIHAR

SOCIAL SCIENCE
GRADE 7 2023-24
CHAPTER-2: ROLE OF GOVERNMENT IN HEALTH
NOTES
Health
Health is not only the ability of being illness free but availability of clean drinking water, proper sanitation
facilities, pollution free and stress-free environment etc are all important for ensuring good health of a person.

Factors responsible for good health:

1. Access to clean drinking water.

2. Access to basic sanitation facilities.
3. Clean surroundings.
4. Availability of clean and pollution free air.
5.Availability of nutritious food.
6. Happy and stress-free environment.

Healthcare in India
1. Positive Aspects
• India had the largest number of doctors in the world.
• The number of hospitals in our country is growing rapidly every year.
• We also have a large number of medical tourists in our country i.e. a lot of people come from
various foreign countries for their medical treatment in India.
• India is technologically advanced in the field of medicine.
• India is the fourth largest producer of medicines in the world and is also one of the largest exporter of
medicines.

2. Negativ
e
Aspects

• In spite of the above achievements, we are not able to provide proper health care facilities to all.
• People in rural areas have to travel long distances and wait in long queues at government hospitals.
• Most doctors settle in urban areas.
• The number of doctors with respect to the population is quite less in India.
• We are not able to provide clean drinking water to all.
• Many children in India are malnourished as they do not get adequate food to eat

Healthcare facilities can be divided into two broad categories:

Public health services

Private health
a) Public health services
• The public health care service is a chain of health centres and hospitals run by the government.
• The word ‘public’ in public health services means healthcare for all the all citizens.
• Moreover, the money/resources required to run these is obtained from the ‘public’ in the form of taxes.
• A public health service is a chain of health centres and hospitals run by the government.
• They are linked together so that they provide services in both rural and urban areas
• These services include services for routine and small illnesses.
• Sometimes some specialized services are also provided in some situation.

Public health services at different levels:

A. Village Level: At the village level there are health centres which usually has a nurse and a village
health worker. They are trained to treat common illnesses and work under the supervision of doctors at
the Primary Health Centre (PHC), centre that covers many villages in a rural area. A PHC has a
General Physician, a Gynaecologist, Orthopaedics, a Dentist and a Paediatrician. Thus, many
specialized treatments are available at PHCs.
B. Community Health Centre (CHC): Such health centres are present at block and subdivision levels.
They have more facilities in terms of specialised doctors.
C. District Hospital: At the district level it is the District Hospital that supervises all the PHCs and
CHCs. These hospitals have more facilities compared to a CHC.
D. Urban Areas: Large cities have many government health hospitals.

Functions of public health care system

• It is meant to provide quality health care service either free or at a nominal (less expensive) cost so that
even the poor can seek treatment.
• It is supposed to implement preventive measures to prevent the spread of diseases like TB, malaria, cholera
etc.
 • This involves campaigns to create awareness among people about some diseases and methods to prevent
them. For example; creating awareness about how stagnant water in buckets, tyres, drains, flower pots, water
coolers etc. acts as a breeding ground for mosquitoes; eventually leading to spread of dengue and malaria.

NOTE: Provision of health facilities is the duty of the government because:-

• According to our Constitution it is the primary duty of the government to ensure the welfare of the
people and to provide health care facilities to all.
• The government must also safeguard the Right to Life of all people.
• If a hospital cannot give timely medical treatment to a patient, it means the Right to Life is not
being safeguarded.
Thus, through the provision of good hospitals, it is the duty of the government to provide health facilities
to all.

b) A Private health care system

• Private health facilities are not owned/controlled by the government but by the private individuals
and companies.
• Since these are privately owned they charge a lot of money. Hence poor people are not able to
afford these facilities.
• There are many private health care centres in India.
• Many doctors run their own private clinics.
• In rural areas one finds many Registered Medical Practitioners (RMPs).
• Urban areas have large number of doctors providing specialized services.
• There are many hospitals, nursing homes, and diagnostic centres that are privately owned.
• There are also many large companies that run many hospitals and are engaged in manufacturing and selling
medicines.
Difference between private and public health care in India.

Private healthcare Public healthcare

1. These hospitals or healthcare services are run by an 1. The public healthcare is a chain of health centres and
individual or private owner. hospitals run by the government.
2. These facilities are found more in urban areas 2. They cover both urban and rural areas.
3. These hospitals offer special facilities such as X-ray, 3. It does not offer many facilities. Sometimes doctors
ultra sound etc. are not available and there is a scarcity of beds for the
patients.
4. Treatment provided here is expensive. 4. Treatment is affordable.
5. Medical tests do not take much time. 5. Tests can take a lot of time.
6. They are less crowded. 6. They are very crowded.
7. Their prime motive is to make profit. 7. They work for the welfare of public and for spreading
awareness of some of the diseases.

Reason why adequate healthcare facilities are not available to all in India.
• In India, the private facilities are increasing but the public facilities are not. Hence mainly private
services are available which are not affordable to all.
• A very little percentage of the population can afford to pay all their medical expenses.
• Many people have to borrow money (which starts a vicious/debt circle for which they have to take loans) or
sell their possessions (property) to pay the heavy medical bills.
• The poor people are also undernourished. They do not get to eat a balanced diet.
 • The poor people do not have access to clean drinking water. They stay in dirty and ill ventilated,
congested areas. These increase their chances of falling ill.
• Women are often neglected in terms of health care facilities.
• Many tribal areas have few health centres which are not run properly. Even private health services are not
available there.

Case Studies

To improve health care system in India the following case studies can be looked as:-

I. Indian scenario: The Kerala experience

• Some major changes were made by the Kerala government in 1996.
• The panchayats were allocated forty per cent of the state budget.
• This enabled the panchayats in planning and providing for their requirements.
• This helped the village to make sure that proper planning was done for water, food and
women’s development and education.
Following steps were taken by the panchayats to improve the situation:
• Water supply schemes were checked.
• Proper working of schools and anganwadis were ensured.
• Steps were taken to solve the specific problem of the village.
• Health centres were improved.

Despite these efforts the following problems remained and needed to be

addressed: -
• Shortage of medicines and hospital beds.
• Insufficient number of doctors.

II. International scenario: The Costa Rican approach

• Costa Rica is amongst the healthiest nations in South America. This could be possible because of
an important decision made by the Costa Rican government.
• Many years ago, Costa Rica decided not to have an army.
• It was assumed that instead of wasting the money on armed forces, it was more important to spend that
on public health, education and on other basic needs of the people.
• The Costa Rican government believes that a country needs to be healthy to ensure development.
• The government pays a lot of attention to various important aspects; like safe drinking water, sanitation,
nutrition and housing. Health education is an essential part of education at all level.