Health sector hit by misplaced priorities

In India, health has never been considered as a vital component in the equations for economic development, specifically in the mindset of the bureaucrats and their ruling political bosses in the country. Since independence, and, till date successive regimes have pursued a legacy of total neglect of the health sector, with budgets being allocated, more as a charity, rather than a necessity for robust economic growth

The world today is equipped with the most sophisticated arsenal to wage wars. Thanks to the billions and billions of dollars infused every year to design, develop and manufacture advanced armory by nations obsessed with hegemonic psychosis and threat perceptions. Nations –with perhaps a few exceptions – continue to be involved in an arms race which is sucking up humungous fiscal resources even if it means starving the more crucial sectors of funds.

Apart from the enormous expenditure to develop the fire power for mutual destruction always proving to be a colossal waste, it was misplaced and asinine priorities nurtured by arrogant, corrupt, ignorant, myopic and quixotic leadership which have been instrumental in jolting the world into a state of impotence and immobility to encounter lethal Covid and other epidemics in various incarnations. The Covid tragedy that debilitated the entire humanity and decimated economies across the world had exposed the chinks in the armor of even the most powerful nations. The entire world woke up to the shocking deficiencies of even the basic infrastructure and equipment to deal with cataclysmic ramifications of the catastrophe unleashed by Coronavirus-19. But, despite the traumatic experience, those holding the reins of power continue to prioritize considerable defense spending at the cost of health and other crucial sectors. If the objective is to become indomitable in warfare and weaponry, then it is akin to a fiasco, since, even the most developed and upgraded technologies are becoming obsolete by the day.

In India, health has never been considered as a vital component in the equations for economic development, specifically in the mindset of the bureaucrats and their ruling political bosses in the country. Since independence, and, till date successive regimes have pursued a legacy of total neglect of the health sector, with budgets being allocated, more as a charity, rather than a necessity for robust economic growth.

India is the fourth biggest defense spender in the world. Budget for defence for the year 2023-24 was Rs 5,93,537.64 crore, which was over five-times the health allocation of Rs. 89,155 crore. While the spending on defence has nearly tripled from Rs. 2.53 lakh crore in 2014 to nearly Rs. 6 lakh crore, in 2024, the health allocation has remained at around 20 percent of the total defence spend over these years. The country’s defence allocation is at a considerable 13 percent of the total budget, which conspicuously reflects deviant priorities.

While India is occupying a pride of place alongside elite nations like USA, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom and Germany in defence spending, it is among the less developed and under-developed countries in Healthcare and Global Hunger Index which includes nutrition and malnutrition. India is ranked 111 in GHI and positioned at 145 in healthcare infrastructure and accessibility.

Aggravating the inherent deficiencies is the appalling dearth of health infrastructure in terms of medical manpower and infrastructure facilities. According to evaluations the country is equipped with an abysmal one bed per 1000 population and according to official figures - which needs to be validated - the doctor to patient ratio 1: 834. Moreover, the public hospitals lack even the basic infrastructure. The situation is worse in rural areas which have little or no access to emergency and immediate healthcare, with inadequate primary health centres catering to an unwieldy number of populations.

Factoring in, the spate of endemics and epidemics which afflict various parts of the country with uncontrollable frequency, then the health disasters happening and waiting to happen becomes painfully evident. A majority of the populace are becoming immuno-compromised due to such inherent deficiencies in the healthcare system.

The mention of health policies or plans is conspicuous by its absence in the manifestos of major parties. The reasons for the indifference are not hard to fathom. Health of the people has never been a priority for India’s power hungry politicos, since it is not a vote clincher and does not have any influence on their political fortunes. The second reason is that corrupt politicians and bureaucrats see little prospects in health sector for raking in the spoils, compared to defence deals and contracts. Can there be a more vivid proof to substantiate this fact than the plethora of defence scams and scandals that have?

Threat perceptions from rogue nations like Pakistan and China does definitely justify continuous and advanced state of preparedness, But, as experience reflects, except for fuelling incessant arms race, the huge budgetary allocations have rarely been a solution for deterrence against aggressors.

(Writer is print, electronic and digital media journalist)