Page 111 - sst_class_07

country has a well structured 3-tier public health infrastructures comprising community Health

Care Centres, Primary Health Centres and Sub-centres spread across rural and semi urban areas
and tertiary medical care providing multi-speciality hospitals and medical colleges located
almost exclusively in the urban areas.
Medical tourists come in huge number to India every year. Medical tourists are the foreigners

who visit any country specifically for medical treatment at hospitals offer world class
facilities at a lower cost than what they would get in their own countries.

Not just that, India is the fourth largest producer and exporter of medicines too.
India’s rural health care system is in crisis because most of the doctors prefer the comfortable

wealthy urban lives. Indian doctors settle in western countries for greater professional
opportunities and better material. Even if some join rural areas their number is very less.
Therefore, a large number of people living in the rural areas die due to inadequate medical
treatment and facilities. Half of all children in India do not get adequate food to eat and
are undernourished. Other reasons for unequal access to medical care in India are lack of
financial resources and sound health care services in all rural area.

Public anD PrivatE hEalth carE sErvicEs

The health of a nation is difficult to define in terms of a single set of measures. At best,
we can assess the health of the population by taking into account indicators like infant
mortality and maternal mortality rates, life expectancy and nutrition, along with the

incidence of communicable and non-communicable diseases.
Health care facilities can be divided into public and private health services.

Public hEalth sErvicEs
These are the hospitals which are run by the government. All these hospitals works as a
chain and provide treatment both in rural and urban areas.

The care and treatment varies from common problems to the
special services. In villages, there are Primary Health Centres
which have a trained nurse and a village health worker.

Primary Health Centres (PHC) cater to many villagers in rural
India. There is a District Hospital at the District level.

The most important aspect of the Public Health Services is Government Hospital
that it tries to bring equality by giving care and treatment to even the poor sections of
Indian society. Public Health Systems take action to prevent the spread of diseases such as
T.B., polio, malaria, dengue, diarrhoea, etc.

The Indian Constitution directs the government to ensure the welfare of its citizens and
provide health care facilities to all. The resources needed to run these services are obtained
from the money the public pays in the form of taxes. Therefore, the government must
safeguard the Right to Life of every citizen.

Social Studies-7 111