One area where the government seems to be working hard without making too much noise is in the health care sector. First, it brought more drugs under price control, which will benefit the larger population, and after that it went on to offer free drugs through its ‘Free Drug Service’ and ‘Free Diagnostics Service’ despite financial constraints. These services are offered through government healthcare centres at present.
The government is now spreading its net wider by planning to bring in a bill aimed at regulating the medical equipment industry in the country which so far has remained unregulated. The new bill will replace the existing Drugs and Cosmetics (Amendment) Bill, 2007.
Medical costs across the country have increased considerably and the initiative taken by the government is laudable. As per data released by the health ministry nearly 33 per cent people suffer from poverty due to their medical expenditures.
Monitoring medical devices is necessary as insurance companies do not cover these ailments and the consumer has to pay a high cost for it, in most case for the rest of their life. Few Indian pharmaceutical companies have diverted from pharmaceutical products to devices which remains largely a multinational domain. The unfortunate part is that consumers, in the case of asthma or dialysis (portable dialysis equipment), have to use these devices either for a prolonged period or for the rest of their lives.
However, along with the devices, diagnostics and healthcare also need to be monitored and controlled within reasonable limit. Indian pharmaceutical companies are known for providing some of the cheapest drugs available in the world. However, on the other hand hospitalisation, and unnecessary and costly diagnostic tests wreak havoc on patients' bank accounts. Medical insurance has only made treatment costly as well as discriminatory.
As in the case of the US where the cost of treatment is prohibitive for most of the population, India too is approaching the same levels. A private hospital with state of the art facility is completely out of reach for a middle-class citizen. Listed hospitality companies are even more costlier, with an eye on the shareholder these hospitals are working with ratios like revenue per bed and occupancy rates. If these are the criteria, efficient health care will continue to rise and be out of reach of the common people. The health ministry needs to look at this even if it is at the cost of their share prices.
