A recent report, ‘State of Healthcare in Rural India Report – 2024, Neighborhoods of Care’ reveals a distressing picture of rural India’s healthcare system. The survey, conducted across 21 states, found that 45 percent of rural residents suffer from anxiety, while 73 percent of households with elderly members require constant care.
Conducted by Transform Rural India (TRI) and its initiative, the Development Intelligence Unit (DIU), the survey covered 5,389 households in 21 states. It examined the components of rural care at the family and community levels, focusing on neighborhood composition, access to home amenities, household care, and practices for physical and mental fitness.
The report introduces the concept of ‘Neighborhoods of Care’, a holistic approach emphasizing personalized care, community involvement, and collaboration among healthcare professionals and social service providers. This model shifts from the traditional health delivery approach, acknowledging that not all health problems can be solved by medication or clinical interventions alone.
Dr Maj Gen (Prof) Atul Kotwal, Executive Director of NHSRC, praised the report’s focus on community dynamics and behavioral factors in health planning. “The current health system includes various providers working within an evolving ecosystem. This model aims to address health comprehensively rather than relying solely on technocratic solutions,” he said.
Shyamal Santra, Associate Director of Health and Nutrition at TRI, highlighted the need for preventive healthcare and addressing social connections and caregivers’ roles in maintaining good health. “People typically talk mostly about curative healthcare. But this report looks at the need for maintaining good health as a standard,” he added.
The report also exposed significant challenges, including limited diagnostic facilities, inadequate access to affordable medicines, and poor waste management practices. Only 12.2 percent of respondents had access to subsidized medicines, and 21 percent lacked a nearby medical store. Additionally, 43 percent of households lack a scientific waste disposal system, and only 23 percent have a covered drainage network.
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- Anxiety issues: 45 percent of respondents in rural India, across genders, reported being affected by anxiety and worry most of the time.
- Elderly care: 73 percent of rural households with elderly members need constant care. However, only 3 percent of these households have opted for paid external caregivers, with 95.7 percent preferring family caregivers, predominantly female (72.1 percent).
- Life insurance coverage: Over 60 percent of the respondents did not have any life insurance coverage for themselves or anyone else in their household.
- Access to healthcare: Only 12.2 percent of respondents have access to subsidized medicines, and 21 percent lack a nearby medical store.
- Physical fitness: Around 50 percent of respondents believe that working on farmland and doing physical labor keeps them fit, with only 10 percent practicing yoga or other fitness activities.
- Drainage systems: One in five respondents reported no drainage system in their villages, with only 23 percent having a covered drainage network.
- Waste disposal: 43 percent of households lack a scientific waste disposal system and end up dumping their waste everywhere.
- Occupation: 44 percent of survey participants earned primarily through farming activities, 21 percent were daily wage laborers, 14.2 percent had a full-time or part-time job, and the remaining engaged in vocational trades like tailoring, carpentry, masonry, electrician, and plumbing.
