Healthcare
The Hoping Foundation gives a special focus on healthcare, especially of the underprivileged children and women.
In India, the healthcare system has made a significant change since Independence, but still a lot needs to be done, especially in the rural areas. Healthcare statistics have shown that in India, within the Urban dwellers, the reach of healthcare is less than four percent.
The low-income group in India is forced to pull out money from their savings or borrow from someone else. As many of them can’t afford, they choose to remain uninsured and receive poor quality health care services.
Before Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) which is also known as Prime Minister’s Health Protection Scheme comes into the picture, only 13% of people from the rural section of the society were covered under the central government insurance scheme. Since the cover was not sufficient, the government of India launched PMJAY in September 2019. After the launch of PMJAY, the rest of the 45% of the population is now covered under health insurance. It is a big jump towards Universal Health Coverage. Just insurance alone is not enough; all needy sections are not aware of the scheme. Not all can get the required cover and not all have access to quality healthcare services. (Source BFSI)
India continues to spend some of the lowest amounts as a country on health, around 1.1% of its GDP. India already has a large number of primary healthcare centres and subcenters, but they remain far from adequate. A report the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi, released last year showed that in 15 states, not a single one of these facilities meets the national public health standards set by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
The 12th plan document of GOI mention that; "the SC and ST, the particularly vulnerable tribal groups, the de-notified and nomadic tribes, the Musahars and the internally displaced must be given special attention while making provisions for, setting up and renovating sub-centers and anganwadis". While the public health care system required to have ensured better care and treatment for these marginalized communities, evidence shows that access remains the lowest among these population group. (Source PMC,NIH)
Access to health care is very much asymmetric between rural and urban India. While urban residents have a choice between public or private providers, the rural residents face far fewer choices. India has a very vast public health network with sub-centers working at the community level. The health sub-centers are manned mainly by bare foot health workers and work as a bridge between community and the primary health centers (PHC) (Source PMC,NIH)
The Hoping Foundation believes in the right to health and strives passionately to ensure that this right is available and accessible to all, especially to marginalized communities in India.
The poor living conditions of the marginalized communities coupled with complete lack of sanitation and poor hygiene awareness led to rampant infectious disease and maternal/infant mortality. The Hoping Foundation believes that there must be a better way to finance and deliver quality health care, and constantly try a new approach to healthcare accessibility and financing for low-income families.