Praja Foundation, an NGO involved with civic governance, in its recently released report has raised several red flags on the state of health of Mumbai. The incidence of sensitive diseases in the city within the past four years has almost doubled in all nine diseases. Malaria has gone up by 171 per cent; Diarrhoea by 123 per cent; Hypertension by 90 per cent; TB by 95 per cent; Diabetes by 89 per cent; Typhoid by 91 per cent; Hepatitis B by 94 per cent; Dengue by 276 per cent and Cholera by 185 per cent.
The report is based on a survey conducted among over 15,000 households in Mumbai along with data procured through RTI from BMC. Praja has done a systemic study of municipal health services of all the civic wards of Mumbai to reveal these startling facts.
The figures presented by Praja are after a slight improvement in 2011-12 from previous year that had shown exceptional hike in almost all diseases, not just in Mumbai but across the country. So while BMC needs to be commended in curtailing the growth rate of diseases from last year, it clearly is not enough. Identification of health objectives and targets is one of the more visible strategies to direct the activities of the health sector.
Nitai Mehta, Founder Trustee of Praja Foundation says, “Our report on the state of health of Mumbai raises several red flags. The survey revealed that more than 30 per cent of households spend 11 per cent or more of their annual income on hospitals and medical costs. The survey also shows that almost 80 per cent Mumbaikars did not have a medical insurance. Also, 75per cent of Mumbaikars use private sources like private clinics and private hospital, hence, there is a need for a strong mechanism to collect data from them.”
Dr Mangesh Pednekar, Director (Research & Development), Healis Sekhsaria Institute for Public Health who has monitored and endorsed Praja Foundation’s report, says, “Surveillance systems (health information system) play an extremely important role here. They can provide accurate understanding of the problem. Hence, setting up strong surveillance system should be priority of the administrator and the data process for capturing should be scientific, up-to-date and sacrosanct. Equally importantly, the data captured should be disseminated at all levels to all stakeholders periodically and suggestions should be actively sought through a more institutionalised manner from all.”
“In India, we need a road map to “better health for all” that can be used by states, communities, professional organisations and all sectors. It will also facilitate changes in resource allocation for public health interventions and a platform for concerted inter-sectoral action, thereby enabling policy coherence. Mumbai has perhaps the greatest allocation of funds and resources for its health agenda. The Government should focus more on the primary healthcare rather than the tertiary healthcare,” Mehta.
EH News Bureau