The government is doing its bit for public health. Are you?

The government has made Healthy India a top priority, which reflects in flagship programmes such as Swachh Bharat. However, the government can’t do everything on its own. India is a nation of 1.2 billion people and without their participation no programme can succeed. As citizens, we must participate actively not just in policy-making, but also programme implementation. Without that, even the best resources would not be enough to achieve the objective. Community participation, apart from ensuring buy-in, has important benefits: collaboration, greater reach, positive change in the social environment, etc. Participation would ensure that the needs of each community are better understood and also that citizens have a say in how healthcare is delivered.

There is no other way to achieve a healthy India, which is critical not just for quality of life but also for the economy – as I pointed out in my earlier blog. Consider the facts. Traditionally, millions have not had access to healthcare, our hospitals are overburdened and they have inadequate facilities. An IndiaSpend analysis pointed out that India is short of 500,000 doctors, based on the World Health Organization (WHO) norm of 1:1,000 population. With 740,000 doctors at 2014-end, which works out to a doctor-patient population ratio of 1:1,674, India was worse off than Vietnam, Algeria and Pakistan. On March 8 this year, a parliamentary committee on health and family welfare report termed this shortage a health-management failure. Fortunately, the government had taken cognisance of this even before the report and began acting on a war footing.

With your participation, the programmes would be better grounded in reality, you would appreciate better what it takes to deliver these services and help improve them. In fact, globally, the extent of community participation is an important parameter of success for such initiatives. Governments everywhere, especially ours, strive for societal participation right from the planning stage. They understand that it’s a prerequisite for success.

It’s a matter of pride for Eureka Forbes to do its bit through the Tandarust Bharat programme – an ecosystem of products and initiatives that provides meaningful solutions for healthcare issues. It is also a platform for action and innovation to achieve a healthier India. Our Jal Daan initiative works on a similar philosophy. It spread awareness and increases public participation in providing access to clean water to the underprivileged.

It is this volunteer spirit that can make a difference and can help us achieve our health system goals. For instance, let’s consider changing lifestyles, which have caused a shift in the healthcare burden – from communicable to non-communicable diseases. Volunteers and community participation would spread awareness about healthy behaviour at the family level. A fresh, training-based approach would help to change behaviour patterns, and promote the concept of healthy living and self-care. Clear health targets would ensure that the entire system – from government agencies to volunteers and local self-governments – strive as one.

We are facing unique challenges to national health, making it imperative for governments and you as a responsible citizen to work together. Patient and citizen participation is now regarded as central to the promotion of sustainable health and health care. Involvement efforts create and encounter many diverse ethical challenges that have the potential to enhance or undermine their success. This article examines different expressions of patient and citizen participation and the support health ethics offers. It is contended that despite its prominence and the link between patient empowerment and autonomy, traditional bioethics is insufficient to guide participation efforts. In addition, the turn to a “social paradigm” of ethics in examinations of biotechnologies and public health does not provide an account of values that is commensurable with the pervasive autonomy paradigm. This exacerbates rather than eases tensions for patients and citizens endeavoring to engage with health. Citizen and patient participation must have a significant influence on the way we do health ethics if its potential is to be fulfilled.

Your participation would have global precedence. Efforts to involve citizens in healthcare decision-making are well established and recognised. The WHO states in the 1978 Declaration of Alma-Ata: “People have a right and duty to participate individually and collectively in the planning and implementation of their healthcare.” The environment, of course, is a critical aspect of this. Recently, the World Bank said that 1.4 million Indians lost their lives to air pollution in 2013. Poor air quality increases the risk of contracting ailments such as lung cancer, stroke, heart disease and chronic bronchitis, all of which put a massive strain on public healthcare. Incidentally, air pollution is fourth on the list of fatal health risks worldwide after metabolic risks, dietary risks and tobacco smoke. Public involvement, ideally, should be in the form of well-thought-out interventions based on credibility, legitimacy and influencing ability. You could get involved in the design and implementation of initiatives at the local level or help build support for and awareness of government policy.

Do not underestimate what you as an individual can achieve when you work in lockstep with programmes like Healthy India. If you have helped make a society healthier, I’d like to know. Eureka Forbes will support you where it can.