Is Health an election issue?

TWO RECENT COVID waves have made us realize the importance of proper healthcare. Most people have seen their dear ones or acquaintance being lost or badly affected due to the virus, especially during the 2-3 months of the 2nd wave. People living in tier-2 or tier-3 cities and rural areas have suffered the most, almost everyone has got the chance to realize how much the healthcare system is paralyzed in India, where everyone was rushing for an ounce of oxygen.

Demands run the supply. This is a general trend of how markets and economies work, and how nations functions. This same trend must be followed in every domain of society, be it governance, policymaking, and economic welfare. The poor experience of the government healthcare facilities makes people push towards private facilities and remove the Healthcare issue out of the public considerations.

The question should be raised in our hearts and minds that how are we using our right to vote? The right for which people have sacrificed their lives and are still sacrificing. What should be our demand so that we can correct the supply?

Health: An issue

Poverty is "One illness away".

Every year around 3.5% of people are pushed into poverty and those who are already in poverty are pushed into extreme poverty,  due to poor Healthcare services. With time, the middle-class have moved towards private facilities, slowly, the poor class is also on the same path. 95% of Indians went to individual clinics. 64% spends from their own pocket for medical care.

But, we all know how private hospitals and clinics have behaved as the dacoit in this Covid era. 43% of people say that they didn't get medical treatment due to financial conditions. In rural areas, 47% say they went without treatment. 

Government spending is still 1.30% of GDP. The government is spending only Rs.1600 per person. Which is the lowest in the world's top 10 economies.

By all means, majority of the Indian is somehow connected with the healthcare and its complication. 

Health in Elections

"In India, people do not cast their vote, they vote their caste." 

The whole voting trend of Indian citizens could be summarized in the above line. But, data and facts tell a lot about our priorities.

According to the survey by Lokniti-CSDS,

In the 2014 general election, around 0.4% of people consider Healthcare as a key issue.

In the 2019 general election, the data degraded to 0.3%.

The key issues in the 2019 election have been Development followed by Unemployment, Price Rise, Corruption, and economy

But one can say that these are the trends of pre-pandemic, there will be room for improvement in upcoming elections.

The Bihar assembly election was held just after the 1st wave. Less than 1% of the Bihar Population think that Health is an election issue. Again when elections were held in 4 states and 1 UT during the deadly 2nd wave, it still remained below 1%.

Conclusion

With little public attention, we have failed in building the Health-Economy link. Building human capital is also a part of nation-building. Right to Health will always be a matter of discussion on phenomena like these only. 

In the constitution, it is stated that no one will discriminate against people on race, religion, faith, but, unfortunately, they are the most used tools to achieve political benefits. There is no doubt that the battlefield of elections has moved away from the direct issues which impact our day-to-day lives. Caste and religion are a burden/pride for a common citizen when he/she reaches out to his/her polling booth. The rise of HyperNationalism and Sub-Nationalism has also emerged as a driving force for voters in recent times.

We must ask ourselves Which issues do we keep in mind while standing in a queue of our polling booths? Though, Politicians will do politics, what priorities do we keep, matters the most in a democracy. 

Are we making our representatives accountable for their incompetence?

Let's question ourselves first, then we will be able to question our representatives.