80 percent of the doctors, 75 per cent of dispensaries and 60 percent of hospitals in India are in urban areas as per a report released by research firm, KPMG and the Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India(OPPI).

The release of the survey happened at the Fifth Healthcare Access Summit organized by OPPI with the support of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and also the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers on Friday. The event took place in New Delhi.

Another fact that the report pointed out was that almost 60 percent of deaths in India happened due to non-communicable diseases(NCDs) on an annual basis. The estimated loss due to these will be $4.58 trillion by 2030, says the report.

Speaking at the event Jitendra Singh, Minsiter of State for Prime Minister’s Office and Development of North Eastern Region said that the awareness about NCDs must be created in rural areas and not only cities. NCDs including diabetes, cardio-vascular diseases, chronic lung diseases and cancer aren’t restricted to urban areas but are gradually spreading to the rural regions in north and northeastern parts of the country.

Arun Panda, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare spoke about the significance of regular checkups for offspring of diabetic parents. He also said how steps are being taken by the government to spread awareness using television and print ads as well as radio jingles.

He said that India is among the first nations to develop specific national targets and indicators to bring down the number of global premature deaths due to NCDs by 25 percent by 2025- in line with WHO’s Global action plan for the prevention and control of NCDs 2013-2020.

The report shows that just 37 percent of people in rural India have access to IPD facilities within 5 km distance while only 68 percent have access to an OPD.

Image credits: washingtonpost.com
Image may be indicative

   Send article as PDF