Healthcare in India
India is a country with diverse cultures and ethnicities and while these could be asource of strength and richness, cultural influences may give rise to challenges in the context of disease management. Healthcare is important mostly in a country like India which is densely populated hence increasing the prevalence of various diseases (Worthington,2011). As a family medicine is very crucial in the treatment of minor illnesses such as flu to more complex and chronic diseases. As a family despite having deep rooted Indian culture with a range of traditional medicines, we uphold health at the utmost level and treatment from a qualified physician is part of the family’s norm in disease management. The medicine is used for both preventive as well as in curing of diseases. As an individual medicine plays the role of maintaining the body healthy which in turn help in increasing the productivity in daily activities. When sick the first step is ensuring I visit the nearest medical facility, carry out medical tests, and take the prescribed drugs.
Colds and flu are very common in India due to the high populace and as such the community has developed various homemade procedures to deal with such. A drink prepared from a mixture of certain herbs such as garlic, ginger,and honey is used and if the cold is persistent, I seek medical help. In many cases understanding the content of the drugs administered is difficult and in most cases, one does not bother to know the medicine administered.
Some people have the ability to access quality healthcare while others are excluded due to lack of affordability (Bardhan, 2008). Imbalances arise from the private and state funded healthcare facilities. While the Indian culture relies on a mix of the primary traditional healthcare and the modern facilities, a lot need to be done to ensure the people from rural aswell as the urban setting has unlimited access to quality health care. There are various theoretical approaches to health including cultural competence, health literacy among others. In this discussion, the approach is based on health care system which majors on the state if health in the Indian community.
References
Bardhan,P. (2008). The state of health services in China and India: a larger context. Health Affairs,27(4):132.
Worthington, R. (2011). Medicine, ethics, and professionalism in modern India. In Health Policy and Ethics: a critical examination of values from a global perspective. Oxford: Radcliffe Publishing.
