This is a brilliant piece of a historical review of
Indian Public Health Systems. It captures the essence of why primary health care
in general and access to comprehensive health care has failed despite best
intentions and plans. The book has a strong historical grasp from ancient to
modern times about attempts to provide its citizens with comprehensive health
care. It asks the much-needed uncomfortable questions like, why have the poor
not been provided access to healthcare? Why poor women die at a much younger
age than their richer counterparts? Why do the schedule tribes and schedule castes
find it difficult to get primary health care? And most importantly why
subsequent governments post-independence have not funded primary health care as
per their promises? In these turbulent times as we look and re-read our
constitution and rights given to its citizens a revisit to our health rights is
necessary. India has its own set of have and have-nots. The haves get the best
curative health care in five-star business hospitals, whereas the have-nots do
not get the primary health care.
Dr. Khrist Roy, Technical Advisor, Health unit, CARE, Atlanta, Georgia, US, International journal of Preventive, Curative and Community Medicine
