A Brilliant Piece of a Historical Review of Indian Public Health Systems

Abstract

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.