Any public policy promoting health awareness and healthcare delivery is unlikely to succeed if no efforts are made to modify individual behaviour of Indian masses. Discuss (200 words)
Refer – Business Line
Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.
IAS Parliament 7 years
KEY POINTS
· Health clinics that are accessible and affordable still go unutilised in rural and under-served people due to the strong hold of behavioural patterns, old traditions, conventional beliefs, and habits held by the people.
· There is a long entrenched practice of going to untrained and unqualified doctors.
· There is evidently a lack of trust on existing scientific healthcare models.
· All these in turn affect the success of healthcare efforts.
What is desired?
· The low turnout witnessed at health outlets call for a shift in the approach.
· It takes concerted efforts to address this which include:
a) breaking various myths
b) sharing continued education and awareness
c) rendering door-to-door services especially for women and child care
· Notably holding camps and reaching out to the villages proved to be more effective.
· It triggered a change in the behavioural patterns of the villagers who began trusting a scientifically sound model.
· They started moving away from the traditional practices.
What should policies aim for?
· Modifying individual behaviour is essential for the success of any public policy promoting health awareness and healthcare delivery.
· Effective people participation and engagement is significant.
· More interactive health policies are likely of developing public understanding, appealing to a larger consciousness and modifying habits.
· The health models need to be thought-out and viewed from public behavioural psychology during inception and while being drafted.
· Social media, digitisation, tele-assisted medicine, video and audio campaigns can play a significant role in reaching out to people.
