Revamping Policies and Strategies of Public Health Management in India: A Critique

Even after more than 60 years of Independence and so many health sector reforms, the rural India is still unable to access the services of the allopathic doctors as 74% of these doctors live in urban areas, serving only 28% of the national population, while the rural population, which is 72%, still gets no benefit of their services. Also, even the doctors in urban area prefer to work in private setup, thereby leaving the public healthcare delivery system in a dismantled state. Now, in a country where most of the population can afford treatment only in public hospitals, a shortage in the number of doctors/specialists in Govt. setup can be disastrous. This explains the trend of high MMR and IMR in India. Even after implementing many strategies, this situation has not changed much since the last many years. So, now the Govt. has decided to change its strategy. Now, along with focus on retention of specialists in public hospitals, Govt. has also collaborated with private sector in different ways to improve the situation, as the ultimate goal is 'Health for all', irrespective of the provider of Healthcare. This paper gives a brief account of these strategies and schemes and salient features of these schemes. Also, the significance of these strategies in improving the situation has been discussed. It also shows how the situation in healthcare industry can be improved by using fundamentals of public health management and Human Resource Management.