Healthcare

Health problems are supposed to be the major concern of a society as older people are more prone to suffer from ill health than younger age groups. It is often claimed that ageing is accompanied by multiple illnesses and physical ailments. Besides physical illnesses, the aged are more likely to be victims of poor mental health, which arises from senility, neurosis and extent of life satisfaction.

The First National Sample Survey (NSS) conducted during the second half of 1980s, focussed on the elderly and indicated that 45 per cent of the elderly suffered from some chronic illness like pain in the joints and cough. Other diseases noted in the NSS survey included blood pressure, heart disease, urinary problems and diabetes. The major killers among the elderly consisted of respiratory disorders in rural areas and circulatory disorders in urban areas.

Reports indicate that close to one-third of the elderly suffers from pain in joints, a common chronic disease among the Indian elderly, followed by cough (about 25 percent) and blood pressure (about 15 percent). Less than ten percent of the elderly are reported to be suffering from piles, heart diseases, urinary problems, diabetics and cancer

One out of two elderly in India suffers from at least one chronic disease which requires life-long medication. The proportion is slightly higher in urban areas compared to rural areas.

The extent of utilisation of health services is an index of accessibility and affordability of the households, particularly the poor households in which elderly live. The frequent occurrence of illness among the aged calls for regular utilisation of health services provided by private and public sectors as well as charitable institutions. Even where healthcare is available, its access for the elderly poses a major problem due to the fixed or inflexible nature of healthcare services.  This is often compounded by the lack of a companion to escort the elderly to the healthcare facility. 

Most of India’s elderly being economically dependent; the cost of treatment is often a burden on the household. Therefore, many of the elderly ignore their ailments unless they become too acute.

This vulnerable section of society like any other economically backward section of the population needs to be provided with subsidised or concessional health care facilities.