Role of Health in the Overall Growth of the Nation

No doubt, the role of health has always remained instrumental to an individual’s quality of life, education, income, and obviously their overall development. But there is more truth to it and that is that the health has taken up as the causative factor for the country’s aggregative economic growth as well. There is a direct correlation between the health and economy and it is such that when the economy of a nation improves, so does the health of its citizens and vice versa. This is why improving the cumulative health outcomes in a nation can directly result in improving the overall economic growth of the nation. It is no secret that the health of the citizens and the nation’s economic growth go hand in hand, which means, every buck spent on healthcare guarantees a manifold increase in the overall growth of the nation.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it has been estimated that a 10-year increase in average life expectancy rate of a nation can be associated with the rise in its economic growth at least by 0.3-0.4% per year. For instance, a 10% decrease in malaria can be associated with an increased annual economic growth of 0.3%. (https://www.livemint.com/Politics/PuYLifV8TNzD13GqiK3JmN/Healthcare-and-economic-growth.html).

In India, the high maternity and infant mortality rates are the two primary factors that contribute to poor human development indices. It is less likely for a nation to reap its demographic advantage when more than 30 percent of children in the country are underweight and undernourished. Among all the existing challenges and shortcomings, it is necessary for the country to treat health as not just merely instrumental to nation’s growth but rather as a causative factor for the overall growth and development of the nation.

It is obvious that health is a ‘right’ of every citizen and holds an intrinsic value, apart from it being of essential value to the nation’s economy. Every underprivileged and poverty-stricken individual of the country must have easy access to the public health system, just as every privileged citizen in the country have. It is the responsibility of the government to put into practice the concept of Universal Health Coverage, entailing quality healthcare without financial hardships, particularly, for the vulnerable and underprivileged people.

As an economically fast-growing nation, India has seen some good progress in the field of healthcare in recent years and the country is healthier than ever before. In the past and now, India has taken steps to completely eradicated smallpox and polio; made progress in decreasing HIV infections and Aids-related deaths; and have seen increased access and affordability of healthcare to the public. However, the country continues to grapple due to the onslaught of the non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and highly prevalent communicable diseases, which are being fueled by rapid urbanization. As of now, it is estimated that the effect of the total NCDs in India will cost the country a whopping $6.2 trillion by 2030.

Despite all these threats, India is also facing several other economic drivers that hinder or contribute to the country’s healthcare growth.  The overall healthcare spending is very low, particularly the public healthcare spending, leading to inaccessibility and unaffordability of healthcare to the rural and underprivileged areas. The Indian health systems are facing huge gaps between skilled professionals, healthcare delivery, and infrastructure. In essence, the health systems stay unprepared to deal with the existing and forthcoming healthcare challenges, leading to social, health, and economic consequences, thus hindering the way for the continued economic development. Studies have shown that improvements and health and nutrition of the people impact the country’s human capital, which contributes more to the nation’s wealth than any other dimensions.

A healthy nation is what turns into a socially and economically wealthy nation. It is important that India stays prepared to face the dual burden of its non-communicable and communicable diseases through government interventions and necessary investments in healthcare. Government intervention in reforming the health systems need to be fastened up and healthcare must be made the key priority in all government investments. The government has to enable funding from public/private sources, encourage health insurance, increase budgetary allocations, explore different avenues for healthcare fund-raising and create a sustainable health ecosystem for the future. This would bring a tectonic shift towards better and quality healthcare in the next decade, offered by sustainable public and private players.

The ultimate aims are to make people health-aware and engaged in healthcare, provide them with affordable health coverage, and to give them equitable access to healthcare with a focus on prevention and assured quality of care. To make it possible, quality and trained healthcare professionals are a must. Students aspiring to embark on a career within the healthcare domain have to be well-equipped and knowledgeable for the industry and this is possible only through a quality healthcare education from a reputed institution.

IIHMR - International Institute of Health Management Research – is a premier organization catering to the rising needs of the healthcare management education in the country. The institute has been excelling in the domain with excellent infrastructure, immense experience, industry-vetted curriculum, and eminent faculty who cater well to the changing needs and demands of the healthcare industry. IIHMR has been producing outstanding healthcare professionals with all-inclusive technical/academic skills and abilities for the future health industry who have been actively contributing to the overall growth of the nation.