TN doctors urge government for better preventive care than high spend to treat preventable diseases
Senior doctors of Tamil Nadu has urged the state government to provide better access to preventive care, thereby helping to control the healthcare cost which can be exorbitant. The doctors opined that this would be a better alternative to using up all the funds for diagnosis and treatment.
The doctors made the exhortation on the eve of the demand for grants for the health and family welfare department.
The recommendation comes at an important time:right after the results of the state-wide surveys under the ‘Amma arogya thittam’ came out. The results didn’t exactly paint a pretty picture about the health factor of the state’s citizens. Facts like only half the population having normal sugar and cholesterol levels and just two in every five patients having the ideal body weight were discovered with the surveys.
As per Dr S Elango, former director of public health, a large number of patients will continue to get hypertension or diabetes unless significant lifestyle alterations are made. Communicable diseases like diarrhea, cholera, malaria, diarrhea and dengue have so far not been eliminated by the state. Adding non-communicable diseases to this pile is bound to be disastrous, he said.
In recent times, kidney ailments have seen a rise in the state and hypertension is cited as one of the major reasons. As Dr Rajan Ravichandran of MIOT Hospitals says, nearly 85% of patients suffering kidney diseases have hypertension, and about 40% have diabetes. In such a scenario, Dr. Rajan works for campaigns that educate the population about the correct salt intake.
Health cess also recommended
Health cess is something else which economists and health experts insist on. Prof V Muraleedharan of the department of humanities, IIT-Madras considers it a good idea to levy cess on all sorts of development works. He cites an example-in the event of removal of a pavement space or park, the money procured from the cess could be used by the health department to create alternative measures for exercising and walking.
Studies by global health agencies has it that 75% of money spent on healthcare goes to treating chronic diseases that may well be prevented. The information in the chief minister’s health insurance scheme also reveals a huge amount being spent on treating diseases-over Rs.3,000 crore between January 2012 and May 2016, for over 1.5 crore families of Tamil Nadu. Out of this money, at least a quarter went into treating heart ailments. Most of these ailments were preventable.
Image credits: The Hindu