9 ms·

This article is really informative, and makes me feel proud to be an Indian. Medical care really is one of those things that no person should have to beg or bor

by awaaz 8y ago

This article is really informative, and makes me feel proud to be an Indian. Medical care really is one of those things that no person should have to beg or borrow for, in a civil society. We're still not there yet as a country, but the signs are positive. FWIW, I'm relatively well off and have medical insurance, but the cost is absolutely negligible compared to what I hear is prevalent in the US - about $10 / month. It's probably just my bad luck, but I've had three surgeries in the last 10 years - an appendectomy, an ACL replacement, and a septoplasty. Each one of these was done in highly regarded (and expensive) hospitals in Delhi - Apollo, Max, and Fortis. Each time I walked out of the hospital without paying a single dime. I just had to show my insurance card, and the entire stay was cashless. In fact, after my last surgery I realised that I could have even been reimbursed for my medication post surgery if I'd kept the receipts (which I unfortunately didn't). Anyhow, more power to Narayana.

steve19 8y ago
I am not saying you should not be proud of Indian progress, but I suspect the experiences of a businessman in a big city in India are vastly different to a low caste woman with TB in rural India. A friend of mine is a nurse who did social work in rural India. What she told me about the local hospitals was horrifying, not just the condition of the hospital and how patients with infectious diseases were sleeping on the corridors because of lack of beds, but how the doctors had a total disinterest (bordering on contempt) of the uneducated woman who she went to appointments with.
- rushabh 8y ago
  Experiences in India will vary dramatically based on which state you live in. If you are rural Kerla, a state with 50M people in South India, you are likely to get some of the best quality healthcare are very affordable rates. It’s hard to generalise anything about India which is incredibly huge and diverse.
  - firstfewshells 8y ago
    At the risk of nitpicking, Kerala population is actually close to 34M.
  - anonymous_i 8y ago
    Kerala is but one state out of many. Kerala is probably the only state in India with a public safety net. How many states names can you pull to exemplify your argument besides Kerala?
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
- imagiko 8y ago
  Reminds me of Amartya Sen's quote "...whatever you can rightly say about India, the opposite is also true". A lot of systemic issues will only be resolved as the society progresses, and there is a long way ahead for India.
- dv_dt 8y ago
  If you look at healthcare variation in the US, there are strong socioeconomic correlations to many measures of health and life expectancy too.
- naruvimama 8y ago
  The use of the word "low caste" is in quite mean considering "poor" would be more appropriate. Just as Black or Native American would be a poor substitute for poor american. Or Roma/Eskimo/Greenlander/Sami for Europe Especially considering that the current prime minister and president of India are from so called backward communities. India has come a long way in social development and using the "caste card" is quite out of taste. The word "Caste" is of European origin and does not have a proper native equivalent. The "caste system" itself is again a European concept imported into India to aid the colonial powers in their divide and rule. Unlike the persecution of the Native Americans, Blacks, Jews or Aboriginal which were systematic state run pogroms often in democracies. The fate of the "low caste" can be attributed to the fact that they were the most exploited, often to the point of death or slavery under colonial rule. While the so called "Upper caste" enjoyed second rung positions as peons, clerks and teachers. This experience is universal in the other colonies like Rwanda, Syria or Iraq where the words "Tribes" or "Clans" have come to substitute "Caste". It must be noted that the newly independent India gave all Indians of both sexes the right to vote and went on further to provide "reservations" the equivalent of "affirmative action". This was long before the black American even got the right to vote. Less said about Europe the better, the "Roma" still get rounded up and "deported" even though as EU citizens they have the right to mobility. "Caste" is a powerful tool for the unscrupulous politician inside India. The excuse of colonial apologists or more markedly the evangelists (if they are not the former) outside India. Caste a European concept so prominent in the family names of Americans and Europeans, has today become synonymous with India thanks to the relentless propaganda of the colonialists/evangelists.
  - npmn 8y ago
    It is not out of taste. Caste System(Jati System) though weakened still alive and kicking in India. (Dalits) Lowest caste layer in India is still subjugated to things like Cow vigilantism, Honour killing, Social boycott, Caste clashes and discrimination in various/all forms of life. It is interesting to note that Dalits are almost always on the receiving end of these issues. Giving example of the Prime Minister/President is equivalent to saying since Barack Obama is the president of US, black discrimination. PS: I belong to the so called Lower Caste in India and I have myself experienced instances of subtle/blatant discrimination. Thankfully haven't experienced anything serious yet, maybe because I became an Software Engineer and now live in a major city, thanks to the affirmative actions adopted by India, but poorer strata of lower caste living in tier-3 cities/villages face a lot of cases of discrimination even today. While India has a long way in social development, it still has a long to go. This narrative of bashing Europeans/Outsiders/Pakistanis for anything negative has to stop. Jati System has been in practise for thousands of years now.
victor106 8y ago
I lived in India for about 5 years and worked in the healthcare space with all the hospitals you mention. So here's my take:- India has amazing "private" hospitals if you compare the doctors and the equipment they use. India also has the worst "private" hospitals if you compare the hospital support staff specially nurses. Most of them (not all) nurses have no passion and the profession itself is not given the kind of importance that it is given in the US. Also, the public hospitals in India are a joke. They are terrible. Although some of the best doctors in India come from there. I guess, after seeing more patients than you can handle and having a free hand to do pretty much whatever the heck you want with zero liability (unfortunately and sadly at the cost of the poorest of the poor) they become good. In most cities in India the private hospitals have turned into a profit making operation with zero oversight and in most cases governments supporting them in manufacturing patients. I would get a second and third opinion on any expensive procedure that would a doctor would recommend in India. I made lot of friends who are doctors in India and all of them tell me they get direct cash kickbacks from hospitals and labs for referring patients. This is be highly illegal in the US. Cleanliness is another major issue in Indian hospitals. Even in the best ones most staff don't follow basic sterilization procedures that are common in the western world. So all in all its great that the hospitals in India are affordable to a cross section of Indians but they can be better with better government oversight and having well trained and passionate nursing staff which might increase costs.
- helloindia 8y ago
  "India also has the worst "private" hospitals if you compare the hospital support staff specially nurses. Most of them (not all) nurses have no passion and the profession itself is not given the kind of importance that it is given in the US." This is because Nurses don't get paid well, avg pay will be around Rs 15,000/month which is simply not enough in metro cities. Majority of the profits of private hospitals goes towards Doctors and hospital administration. Nurses pay have been stagnant for so long. Nurses don't even get extra pay or shift allowance for working nights. Many of the skilled ones, migrate to western countries rather than stay and work in India. Nurses do get paid well in govt hospitals, but govt hospitals are so few as compared to privately run hospitals.
feistypharit 8y ago
My wife is a physician. Four weeks ago she was in severe pain and could hardly walk. She drove herself to the ER at the hospital system that is also her employer. After getting admitted at the ER, the first person she saw was a lady to collect her $150 copay... While in severe pain and before seeing a care provider. That's the current US healthcare system. She ended up having emergency spine surgery. Fused L5-S1 vertebrae and replaced disk in between.

by awaaz 8y ago

steve19 8y ago

I am not saying you should not be proud of Indian progress, but I suspect the experiences of a businessman in a big city in India are vastly different to a low caste woman with TB in rural India. A friend of mine is a nurse who did social work in rural India. What she told me about the local hospitals was horrifying, not just the condition of the hospital and how patients with infectious diseases were sleeping on the corridors because of lack of beds, but how the doctors had a total disinterest (bordering on contempt) of the uneducated woman who she went to appointments with.

rushabh 8y ago
Experiences in India will vary dramatically based on which state you live in. If you are rural Kerla, a state with 50M people in South India, you are likely to get some of the best quality healthcare are very affordable rates. It’s hard to generalise anything about India which is incredibly huge and diverse.
- firstfewshells 8y ago
  At the risk of nitpicking, Kerala population is actually close to 34M.
- anonymous_i 8y ago
  Kerala is but one state out of many. Kerala is probably the only state in India with a public safety net. How many states names can you pull to exemplify your argument besides Kerala?
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
imagiko 8y ago
Reminds me of Amartya Sen's quote "...whatever you can rightly say about India, the opposite is also true". A lot of systemic issues will only be resolved as the society progresses, and there is a long way ahead for India.
dv_dt 8y ago
If you look at healthcare variation in the US, there are strong socioeconomic correlations to many measures of health and life expectancy too.
naruvimama 8y ago
The use of the word "low caste" is in quite mean considering "poor" would be more appropriate. Just as Black or Native American would be a poor substitute for poor american. Or Roma/Eskimo/Greenlander/Sami for Europe Especially considering that the current prime minister and president of India are from so called backward communities. India has come a long way in social development and using the "caste card" is quite out of taste. The word "Caste" is of European origin and does not have a proper native equivalent. The "caste system" itself is again a European concept imported into India to aid the colonial powers in their divide and rule. Unlike the persecution of the Native Americans, Blacks, Jews or Aboriginal which were systematic state run pogroms often in democracies. The fate of the "low caste" can be attributed to the fact that they were the most exploited, often to the point of death or slavery under colonial rule. While the so called "Upper caste" enjoyed second rung positions as peons, clerks and teachers. This experience is universal in the other colonies like Rwanda, Syria or Iraq where the words "Tribes" or "Clans" have come to substitute "Caste". It must be noted that the newly independent India gave all Indians of both sexes the right to vote and went on further to provide "reservations" the equivalent of "affirmative action". This was long before the black American even got the right to vote. Less said about Europe the better, the "Roma" still get rounded up and "deported" even though as EU citizens they have the right to mobility. "Caste" is a powerful tool for the unscrupulous politician inside India. The excuse of colonial apologists or more markedly the evangelists (if they are not the former) outside India. Caste a European concept so prominent in the family names of Americans and Europeans, has today become synonymous with India thanks to the relentless propaganda of the colonialists/evangelists.
- npmn 8y ago
  It is not out of taste. Caste System(Jati System) though weakened still alive and kicking in India. (Dalits) Lowest caste layer in India is still subjugated to things like Cow vigilantism, Honour killing, Social boycott, Caste clashes and discrimination in various/all forms of life. It is interesting to note that Dalits are almost always on the receiving end of these issues. Giving example of the Prime Minister/President is equivalent to saying since Barack Obama is the president of US, black discrimination. PS: I belong to the so called Lower Caste in India and I have myself experienced instances of subtle/blatant discrimination. Thankfully haven't experienced anything serious yet, maybe because I became an Software Engineer and now live in a major city, thanks to the affirmative actions adopted by India, but poorer strata of lower caste living in tier-3 cities/villages face a lot of cases of discrimination even today. While India has a long way in social development, it still has a long to go. This narrative of bashing Europeans/Outsiders/Pakistanis for anything negative has to stop. Jati System has been in practise for thousands of years now.

victor106 8y ago

I lived in India for about 5 years and worked in the healthcare space with all the hospitals you mention. So here's my take:- India has amazing "private" hospitals if you compare the doctors and the equipment they use. India also has the worst "private" hospitals if you compare the hospital support staff specially nurses. Most of them (not all) nurses have no passion and the profession itself is not given the kind of importance that it is given in the US. Also, the public hospitals in India are a joke. They are terrible. Although some of the best doctors in India come from there. I guess, after seeing more patients than you can handle and having a free hand to do pretty much whatever the heck you want with zero liability (unfortunately and sadly at the cost of the poorest of the poor) they become good. In most cities in India the private hospitals have turned into a profit making operation with zero oversight and in most cases governments supporting them in manufacturing patients. I would get a second and third opinion on any expensive procedure that would a doctor would recommend in India. I made lot of friends who are doctors in India and all of them tell me they get direct cash kickbacks from hospitals and labs for referring patients. This is be highly illegal in the US. Cleanliness is another major issue in Indian hospitals. Even in the best ones most staff don't follow basic sterilization procedures that are common in the western world. So all in all its great that the hospitals in India are affordable to a cross section of Indians but they can be better with better government oversight and having well trained and passionate nursing staff which might increase costs.

helloindia 8y ago
"India also has the worst "private" hospitals if you compare the hospital support staff specially nurses. Most of them (not all) nurses have no passion and the profession itself is not given the kind of importance that it is given in the US." This is because Nurses don't get paid well, avg pay will be around Rs 15,000/month which is simply not enough in metro cities. Majority of the profits of private hospitals goes towards Doctors and hospital administration. Nurses pay have been stagnant for so long. Nurses don't even get extra pay or shift allowance for working nights. Many of the skilled ones, migrate to western countries rather than stay and work in India. Nurses do get paid well in govt hospitals, but govt hospitals are so few as compared to privately run hospitals.

feistypharit 8y ago

My wife is a physician. Four weeks ago she was in severe pain and could hardly walk. She drove herself to the ER at the hospital system that is also her employer. After getting admitted at the ER, the first person she saw was a lady to collect her $150 copay... While in severe pain and before seeing a care provider. That's the current US healthcare system. She ended up having emergency spine surgery. Fused L5-S1 vertebrae and replaced disk in between.