K Srinath Reddy: Southern remedies

By: Dr. K. Srinath Reddy/Forbes India

What Kerala and Tamil Nadu can teach the rest of the country about good health at low cost

When can a baby girl born in Madhya Pradesh expect to live as long and healthy as a baby girl born in Kerala, overcoming the six-fold higher risk of dying before her first birthday? When will a rural Indian have the same level of satisfaction about the healthcare he or she receives, as a foreign medical tourist featured in the brochures of corporate hospitals? Will the 40 million Indians, who are annually pushed into poverty because of unaffordable healthcare costs, be relieved of the crushing burden of catastrophic health expenditures in a country where private, out-of-pocket spending accounts for 71 percent of all health financing?

While the Indian media is currently concerned over the fluctuating growth rates of the economy, it is the health indicators which should cause considerable concern.

Our infant and maternal mortality rates (presently 47 and 210 respectively) do not compare with those of Sri Lanka (11 and 47, respectively, a few years ago). While 42 percent of our children below three years are undernourished, 15 percent of urban adolescents are overweight, calling for nutrition policies that provide adequate and appropriate nutrition at each stage of life.

India is home to a third of the world