ISSN (Print) - 0012-9976 | ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846

Articles by Nitin JadhavSubscribe to Nitin Jadhav

Public Health System Is Failing the Women Farmers

Maharashtra, with its drought-prone areas, is one of the states with the largest number of male farmer suicides. In the aftermath of these suicides, women farmers struggle on multiple fronts. A poor public health system further fails them and aggravates their plight.

User Charges Onslaught on Public Health Services

Healthcare as a public good should be available free of charge at the point of service delivery. This was the case across India until a flurry of reforms from the early 1990s onwards notified user charges for various health services in public health facilities. Since then, public expenditure on healthcare has seen a decline from a high of 1.5% of gross domestic product in the mid-1980s to a low of 0.7% of GDP in the mid-1990s, recovering to 1.2% of GDP presently. However, out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure has risen dramatically with increased user charges in public health facilities, which leads to further inequities.

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