Developing public health infrastructure key to sustainable healthcare for all

Renowned cardiologist Dr Ramakanta Panda has said that the pandemic has exposed the inadequacy of existing healthcare systems and it is wrong to draw comparisons with Korea, a country with the population equal to that of a single Indian state.

While speaking to Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now, during the Visionary Talk series held by the public policy and governance analysis platform, Dr Panda while praising the efforts of the centre and state governments said that the pandemic has exposed inadequacies in healthcare systems not just in India but all across the world. “It has clearly proved that to survive every country must have a very robust public healthcare system where a large part of the population is covered under public healthcare. Private healthcare by its nature cannot be an answer to society’s problems in health,” he said.

“Looking at India’s population density, magnitude of problem and  accessibility, it has done a great job in fighting the pandemic and it is inappropriate to compare it with a  country like Korea whose population is only that of Uttar Pradesh,” said Dr Panda as he added that it was due to fabulous handling by the central and state governments, medical and paramedical staff and professionals, ancillary and support  personnel, the police and  grassroot level workers who stepped up their efforts and  controlled the spread, reinfection and death rate  due to virus.