{"id":8515,"date":"2017-09-20T13:09:55","date_gmt":"2017-09-20T07:39:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=8515"},"modified":"2017-09-15T13:11:49","modified_gmt":"2017-09-15T07:41:49","slug":"answers-mains-marathon-upsc-mains-current-affairs-questions-september-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answers-mains-marathon-upsc-mains-current-affairs-questions-september-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Answers: Mains Marathon \u2013 UPSC Mains Current Affairs Questions \u2013 September 19"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/mains-marathon\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Archives<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><b>Q1. <\/b><b>According to the latest Global Burden of Disease Study, India has the 154th rank, much below China, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. According to the above statement, discuss the major concerns and its solution regarding the deteriorating status of Indian Public Health System. <\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Answer &#8211; <\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Context<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India\u2019s public health-care sector has been ailing for decades.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the latest Global Burden of Disease Study, India has the 154th rank, much below China, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>What is Public Health Care System?<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Public health Care systems are commonly defined as \u201call public, private, and voluntary entities that contribute to the delivery of essential public health services within a jurisdiction.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This concept ensures that all entities\u2019 contributions to the health and well-being of the community or state are recognized in assessing the provision of public health services.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>What are the major concerns?<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Abysmally low spending on Public Health \u2013 meagre 1.2% against WHO recommendations of 5% public spending on Health.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Neglect of health care institutions at lower strata i.e. PHCs.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The focus has been on building AIIMs like institutions at all India level but <\/span><b>PHCs and CHCs<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> don\u2019t get much attention.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span><b>Poor infrastructure<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>inadequate human resource<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> at all levels in hospitals.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Doctor patient ratio is meager 1:1661, and <\/span><b>at lower levels<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the necessary equipment are not available, even the buildings are not in a proper condition.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That is why people often go to public hospitals only for the smaller diseases, and not for the grave ones in which they have to get admitted in hospitals.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The focus of policymakers has been to address the demand-side issues rather than the supply-side inefficiencies.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is evidenced by the focus on improving hygiene and environmental concerns to prevent the spread of ailments and diseases.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span><b>Governance deficit and regulatory capture<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> arise due to myriad laws and regulations which impede the normal development of this sector.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many <\/span><b>alternative healthcare practices<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> exist and have been serving people since ages but it has <\/span><b>not got adequate attention<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of the government since long.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span><b>Disparity in rural-urban areas<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. IMR is 46\/1000 in rural areas whereas it is 28\/1000 in urban India.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The inefficiency in the sector also creeps up with the <\/span><b>widespread corruption<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that ails both the public and the private sector.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span><b>Private<\/b> <b>sector<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is also not efficient enough. Many of them indulge in <\/span><b>malpractices<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> by selling substandard and even counterfeit medicines, prescribing unnecessary drugs and tests, receiving commissions for referrals, requiring unnecessary hospital admissions and manipulating the length of stay.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>What are the solutions?<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Top priority should be given to primary health care services, including<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">early management of health problems and better quality of care.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Strengthening primary health care delivery by ensuring the basics such as universal immunization can greatly reduce morbidity and lower the costs of curative care.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It will lower the burden of higher strata of hospitals where the cost of treatment is high.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India requires an integrated action on health care to make it universally accessible and affordable at the same time.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This will also have a positive impact on poverty and growth.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recognizing the massive need for expanding the reach of health care services, the government needs to evolve new and innovative ways of <\/span><b>engaging the private sector<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> especially in the provision of tertiary care.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A <\/span><b>National Health Regulatory and Development Framework<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> needs to be made for improving the quality (for example registration of health practitioners), performance, equity, efficacy and accountability of the health care delivery across the country.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It should put out <\/span><b>standard treatment guidelines<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for public and private providers, frame a patients\u2019 charter of rights, engage with professional associations and civil society, and establish a <\/span><b>regular audit system<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India needs to <\/span><b>increase its expenditure on health sector<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as a percent of GDP (1.2% now), with active participation of state governments who bear close to two-third of public expenditure on health sector.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Focus needs to be on <\/span><b>preventive health measure<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and successful implementation of <\/span><b>immunization.<\/b><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The potential of alternative health care should be recognized and there should be more focus on research in these areas.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Efforts should be put towards successful implementation of government schemes related to health sector.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Q2. Days after the resolution of the Doklam stand-off with India, China said that it is ready for talks to reopen the Nathu La pass. <\/b><b>Around five years after the 1962 war, India and China had clashed militarily in <\/b><b>Nathu La.<\/b> <b>Elaborate on the events during the Nathu La pass standoff of 1967 between India and China. Do you think India gave a strong response back then? Discuss. <\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The last time India and China were engaged in a major military stand-off in Sikkim was in 1967.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Brief background<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Around five years after the 1962 war, India and China had clashed militarily.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It took place at Nathu La, not far to the northwest of the Doklam plateau.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> More than 300 Chinese were killed in four days, while India lost 65 soldiers. By comparison, in the monthlong war in 1962, China lost only 722 soldiers. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nathu La, 1967 was the last military conflict between the two countries.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Events that occurred during Nathu La standoff<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nathu La is an important pass on the Tibet-Sikkim border through which passes the old Gangtok-Yatung-Lhasa trade route.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chinese and Indian soldiers were deployed barely 30 metres apart, the closest they are anywhere along the 3,488 km Sino-Indian border.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Chinese hold the northern shoulder of the pass; India holds the southern shoulder.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 1966 and early 1967, China continued its tactics of propaganda, intimidation and attempted incursions into Indian territory.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Indian Soldiers in the open were mowed down by Chinese machine gun fire. The Indians responded with artillery fire, and pummelled every Chinese post in the vicinity.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Taken aback by the strong Indian response, the Chinese threatened to bring in warplanes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Having sent its message militarily, India, delivered a note to the Chinese offering an unconditional ceasefire across the Sikkim-Tibet border. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This was rejected, but the situation remained largely peaceful for some days.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chinese handed over the bodies of Indian soldiers with arms and ammunition, saying they were acting in the interest of \u201cpreserving Sino-Indian friendship\u201d.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thus, India did gave a strong response to China during the Nathu La standoff. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Conclusion<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On October 1 the same year, another skirmish erupted at Cho La, but the India again repulsed the Chinese. At Nathu La and Cho La, the failures of 1962 had been laid to rest.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Q 3.<\/strong> <\/span><b>Briefly explain what is Antimicrobial resistance and how is posing a serious threat to India. Also discuss the ways through which India is trying to get rid of it. (GS3)<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Answer \u2013<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Introduction<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Antibiotic resistance is a subset of <\/span><b>antimicrobial resistance (AMR), <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">which is a wider category that covers resistance in all micro-organisms bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi to drugs.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some 700,000 people die of resistant infections every year globally, a number that is estimated to rise to 10 million by 2050.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Antibiotic resistance has become a global crisis that threatens the management of infections, both in the community and in hospital practice.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Antimicrobial resistance a serious threat to India<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India, because of its sheer numbers, poor literacy and awareness, and lax controls over medical practices, is on the frontlines of the global AMR public health crisis.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A 2015 WHO multi-country survey recorded \u201cwidespread public misunderstanding\u201d about antibiotic use in India.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Health Minister J P Nadda, in April 2016, highlighted antimicrobial resistance as a \u201cserious threat to global public health\u201d.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As per the National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (NAP-AMR), the crude mortality from infectious diseases in India is 417 per 100,000, and India is among countries with the highest burden of bacterial infections.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Finding solutions<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Two, an Indian company, Bangalore-based Bugworks Research, has received an Initial fund of $ 2.6 million for its work on a new class of antibiotics to fight what is known as the \u201cESKAPE\u201d.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ESKAPE is group of pathogens (Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter species).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ESKAPE pathogens are considered the leading cause of nosocomial (hospital-born) and hospital acquired infections throughout the world.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India has formed a National Surveillance System for AMR, and issued National Guidelines for use of antibiotics.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A national policy for containment of antimicrobial resistance was formulated in 2011.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Health Minister J P Nadda released a multi-sectoral National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (NAP-AMR) 2017-21 earlier this year.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Archives\u00a0 Q1. According to the latest Global Burden of Disease Study, India has the 154th rank, much below China, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. According to the above statement, discuss the major concerns and its solution regarding the deteriorating status of Indian Public Health System. Answer &#8211; Context \u00a0India\u2019s public health-care sector has been ailing for&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answers-mains-marathon-upsc-mains-current-affairs-questions-september-19\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Answers: Mains Marathon \u2013 UPSC Mains Current Affairs Questions \u2013 September 19<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":2292,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mains-marathon-answers","category-public","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/pen-paper-laptop.jpg?fit=1000%2C500&ssl=1","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704685459},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}