Analysis of health and health care services in Punjab

Abstract

Health is increasingly being recognized as a critical human capital component, which contributes significantly towards the development of a nation. Only a healthy and educated population can contribute to productivity, economic growth and human development. The present concern in both developed and developing countries is not only to reach the whole population with adequate health care services but also to secure an acceptable level of health for all through the application of primary healthcare programmes. The present study is mainly confined to Punjab state and a detailed analysis of the health sector of Punjab has been carried out by examining various health indicators, health infrastructure and health expenditure. The study has been based on both primary as well as secondary data. The secondary data has been collected for the period 1981 to 2008, while the primary data has been collected for the period 2008-09 on the basis of proportion of ruralurban population of Patiala district in 2001 census. The main findings of the present study are as follows:- There has been an improvement in health facilities in India and as a consequence there has been appreciable improvement in various health indicators. India has invested substantially in developing the health infrastructure. The public expenditure on health has not been an issue of high priority because of which a disproportionately large share of the burden of health care has to be borne by the households. Punjab state has also recorded an impressive performance on various health indicators. On observing the health infrastructure in Punjab it has been found that the number of medical institutions in Punjab have grown over a period of time. A greater number of medical institutions have been located in the rural areas as compared to the urban areas, but the medical institutions in urban areas have grown at a higher rate as compared to that of the rural areas..