Health Care in Developing Nations — Systems Approach

Abstract

In the majority of developing and underdeveloped nations, resources for health care are very limited. Majority of people are poor and live in rural areas and dwellings in urban areas. So basic preventive, curative and diagnostic care has to be provided. The disease pattern of highly populated non-affluent developing and underdeveloped nations of the world is certainly different from those of highly affluent developed nations. India is a typical and unique nation of 700 million people belonging to various religions and speaking different languages about 80 per cent are poor and the affluence is around 20 per cent, nearly 80 per cent live in rural areas. Health care is provided by a 5 tier system namely primary health care centres — rural Hospitals — district hospitals — major hospitals — specialist referal centres. Voluntary agencies augment gigantic governmental efforts to meet this really formidable challenge, though at the moment, concepts of systems approach is new, it is bound to make its impact on health care delivery programmes to ensure optimum utilization of the very limited resources. Systems approach will certainly lead to better management of health care programmes.