How difficult and expensive it is to get to the doctor, I believe that anyone who has been to the hospital is enough to remember. In the process of treatment, we not only have to endure the physical discomfort, but also have to endure the pain of spending money like water. As a result, whenever universal free healthcare is mentioned, people subconsciously think that it is a kind of expensive social welfare that only belongs to the economically developed western countries.
However, to people's surprise, as early as 1949, the Constitution of India has made a clear provision that all nationals of India can enjoy free medical care; in recent years, with the popularity of the network development, India's free health care system is more resounding all over the world, and has set an example of health care reform for developing countries. In people's traditional impression, such a vast country as India, with a large population, a weak economy, and a large number of poor people in the country, it is impossible to afford the huge cost of free health care for all. However, India seems to be really magical? Turning the impossible into reality? , how does populous India do it?
Indians queuing up for medical treatment
It is true that India is not rich, and there are problems such as dense population, uneven development, and a large number of poor people, however, this country also does implement a universal free health care system. However, the so-called free healthcare in India actually has a lot of water in it. Free healthcare does not mean that there is no charge for visiting any hospital, because, it is only when you visit a public hospital in India that you can enjoy the free healthcare system in the constitution.
Other than that, this so-called largest free healthcare system in India, the free healthcare programs that the nationals can enjoy are in fact only some basic diagnosis and treatment, such as exempting the registration fee, examination fee, basic treatment fee, emergency rescue fee, the cost of commonly used medicines, food costs such as basic healthcare coverage. If the patient's condition is more serious, they still need to bear part of the medical expenses themselves.
Indian doctors
Of course, even so, to be fair, India's universal free health care has been considered to do a good job, but the real-life free health care in India is not as good as we all think. As we all know, India is an extremely densely populated country, and with such a large population base, the proportion of Indian doctors to the population has reached 1:1500, so it's easy to imagine how tense the country's medical resources are. Even in the public hospitals in New Delhi, the capital of India, people often see shockingly long queues filling up the entire hospital hall, and people need to queue up for three hours to get a number. Next, when it's the patient's turn to see a doctor, the doctor will simply ask the patient about his condition with a numb face and complete the entire process in less than four minutes.
Indian news reports on free healthcare
Obviously, the reason why this is happening is that the actual situation in Indian public hospitals is not at all encouraging. According to information reports, in India, south of Mumbai, a remote area with a population of 2.3 million people, a **** there is only one public hospital, this hospital has only 500 beds, 9 surgeons, 3 available operating rooms. Hundreds of people come to this hospital every day for outpatient care, and an average of more than 60 people line up for surgery every day, yet this hospital can only schedule 15 surgeries per day. In other words, if people in India really want to enjoy free healthcare, they have to wait patiently here for a week, two weeks or even longer.
But people can afford to wait, but the disease can't, and during the long wait, either the disease simmers down on its own, or the condition is more serious, or even already dead, so there's no need to see a doctor at all. Of course, not everyone has to put up with such harsh and poor conditions, want to better service, better treatment, higher level of doctors, more advanced medical equipment, you can also choose the more favorable conditions of private hospitals, and obviously, such hospitals also means more expensive medical costs, obviously, such hospitals are for the rich class and middle class in India to prepare for, the population base is more large common class and poorer class, most of whom cannot afford to go there.
The current situation of private hospitals in India
And, according to a survey of public hospitals in India, even if you have to face the long queues, lack of doctors, lack of beds, lack of equipment in such a poor environment of the public hospitals, there will still be 30% of people choose to go to public hospitals, because, so far, there are still 30% of the population of India belongs to the lowest class of poor people, who do not have the money to go to private hospitals to see the patient for surgery. What is more, as the overall number of doctors in India is seriously inadequate and public hospitals are not profitable, naturally no one is willing to go to public hospitals to serve. So this free healthcare system in India only achieves the goal of being free for the poor? Free of charge? The word "free" is not used in the context of real medical care. medical care. India's universal free health care, still a long way to go.