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ANSWER TO NEXT CORONA : UNIVERSAL HEALTH COVERAGE (UHC) #COVID #UHC #PANACEA #CHINA

UNIVERSAL HEALTH COVERAGE (UHC) #COVID #UHC #PANACEA #CHINA

‘Universal health coverage’ (UHC) involves providing quality, affordable, accessible healthcare to all its citizens. To be a healthy and successful nation UHC is indispensable. A healthy nation is one where citizens' physical and mental well being is ensured. A successful nation is one where people are happy and prosperous, the inequality levels are low and the country is self-reliant and helps other nations in need.



We will first see how UHC could ensure a healthy and successful nation.

Amartya Sen, in his book, ‘The Uncertain Glory’ argued the importance of UHC for the success of any nation. He substantiated his argument by giving the growth of China as an example. China which gained independence around the same time as India invested heavily in healthcare during the 1960's and 1970’s to provide UHC. This increased life expectancy drastically and helped in building a healthy nation that could provide support in building an industrialized nation. That’s why today china is known as ‘the world’s factory’. Thus, China's growth story is an example of how UHC leads a nation on the path of success.

Leaving the question of a nation’s success aside, the fundamental job of a nation is to protect its citizen’s lives. This protection does not only involve providing security from dangers such as terrorist attacks and disasters but also involves providing healthcare services to prevent avoidable deaths.

Moving forward, to build a successful nation, poverty alleviation, and reducing inequality are indispensable. Today, out-of-pocket expenditure accounts for more than 61%. This pushed families hovering around the Below poverty line into severe poverty. One unfortunate incident is enough to decide on a family’s future prospects. India cannot expect itself to become a successful nation with such a situation prevailing at the ground level.

Moreover, healthcare needs are more for women, children and elderly whose healthcare needs are more often than not ignored. UHC could ensure healthy mothers, healthy mothers would ensure healthy children. Healthy children represent the future of our nation. Only when our children are healthy and our elderly have a dignified life in their last days can we think of India being a successful nation. Or else, incidents like in Gorakhpur hospital where around 100 children lost their lives in a span of a month for non-availability of oxygen cylinders will repeat again.

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