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Reality of Rural India
The Sensex is rising by the day. Does that mean India is developing in all areas? Unlike a lot of other developing countries, the development in India takes place only in certain selected pockets. So what have we been doing all this while? How do we know that our inputs have actually made much use?
Our Mission should adopt a synergistic approach, relating health to determinants of good health: segments of nutrition, sanitation, hygiene and safe drinking water. For good nutrition, a general awareness needs to be created amongst villagers and people of rural areas, who have had almost no formal education. With no means to provide for even the basic necessities, scant regard is given to healthcare. Unless the situation is worse seeking medical help is out of question.
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Allopathic cure not considered: Low educational levels have led to village folks relying on local healers. Their advise is taken at face value and allopathic cure is only taken up as the last resort.
Hospital care is costly: access to affordable medical care is absent. Hospitals are located very far off and the cost is unaffordable.
Transportation: An absence of an efficient means of transport has only worsened the situation. Bullock carts are the usual mode and any other is unaffordable. Hence a patient in need of medical help has to travel long distances to reach the 'nearest' health centre.
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The following factors will help bring about a change in the situation:
More PHC (Primary health centre): More primary health care centres need to be set up by the government.
Subsidised local transport: Local transportation to be arranged for at subsidised rates by the panchayat or the hospital.
Education of village folk: To spread the message volunteers can build a network of workers who can identify the problem areas and influence the villagers on various issues. Street plays, personal approach on a one to one basis or a group approach will go a long way in educating the rural population.
Tailor made policies: Insurance companies will have to take into consideration the problem areas, and create tailor made policies.
Marketing: Marketing in rural India is a different ballgame. Emphasis should be on the traditional media coupled with entertainment. This will go down well with the village folk. LIC used puppets to educate rural masses about Life Insurance. The number of inquires at LIC following the performance was found to be considerably high and the field staff too reported a definite impact on the business.
Women's role:
Awareness building and empowerment of women through income generation projects and literacy activities can help to a large extent.
Private health care centres:
Health care centres set up by private institutions at subsidised rates can ease the problem to a great extent. Insurance companies can play a major role in educating the masses by spreading the message through health care centres.
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Occupational diseases are prevalent in many parts of India. Some of them are:
Pneumoconiosis: It is caused due to inhalation of coal dust from coal mines, cement dust from cement factories, etc. The workers affeted by this disease suffer from severe lung problems and become prone to lung cancer.
Silicosis: This diesase occurs due to inhalationof free silica while mining or working in industries related to pottery, ceramic glass, etc. Prolonged inhalation of dust of silica by the workers causes chest pain, continuous coughing and difficulty in breathing.
Asbestosis: This disease originates in the asbestos factory where workers inhale asbestos. This causes chest congestions and organ malfunctions.
Byssinosis: Workers in the cotton industry suffer from this disease by the inhalation of cotton dust as well as cotton fibre. This inhalation causes lung diseases marked by coughing and bronchitis.
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