{"id":120462,"date":"2021-07-22T20:53:04","date_gmt":"2021-07-22T15:23:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=120462"},"modified":"2021-07-22T20:54:00","modified_gmt":"2021-07-22T15:24:00","slug":"a-cardinal-omission-in-the-covid-19-package","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/a-cardinal-omission-in-the-covid-19-package\/","title":{"rendered":"A cardinal omission in the COVID-19 package"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source<\/strong>:\u00a0The Hindu<\/a><\/p>\n

Relevance<\/strong>: India needs to focus on Healthcare human resources for improving healthcare.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Synopsis:\u00a0<\/strong><\/h5>\n

The Government\u2019s COVID-19 health package II again overlooks the need for and availability of healthcare human resources.<\/p>\n

Why healthcare human resources are essential?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

In the mid-1980s, there were a number of government healthcare facilities across the country, with newly constructed buildings, imported state-of-the-art medical equipment such as infant radiant warmers, etc.<\/p>\n

These were developed with financial and commodity assistance as part of the overseas development assistance (ODA) from many well-intentioned international donors.<\/p>\n

But in the following years, these equipments were packed and stacked in storerooms. A key reason was that while infrastructure was upgraded, there was a perennial shortage of health staff<\/strong>, i.e., doctors, nurses and others<\/p>\n

About recent initiatives:<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Recently, Union government announced the \u201cIndia COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Package: Phase II<\/strong><\/a>“. The package aims to boost health infrastructure and prepare India for a possible third wave of COVID-19.<\/p>\n

But the Package barely has any attention on improving the availability of health human resources.<\/p>\n

How intense is the shortage of healthcare human resources?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Even before the novel coronavirus pandemic, as reported in rural health statistics and the national health profile, there are vacancies for staff in government health facilities, which range from 30% to 80%.<\/p>\n

In addition to the overall shortage, there are also wider inter-State variations<\/strong>. Compounding the issues, states that have poor health indicators also have the highest healthcare human resource vacancies.<\/p>\n

The Government seems to have recognised the gaps in health infrastructure; however, the shortage in the health workforce is barely being discussed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Read More<\/strong>: Brain drain in the health sector \u2013 Explained, Pointwise<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
Suggestions to improve Healthcare human resources:<\/strong><\/h5>\n

India\u2019s health system will not benefit from ad hoc and a patchwork of one or other small packages. It essentially needs some transformational changes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n