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A lot ails the health sector
by Shibani Dasgupta
Reducing
just one health risk increases an employee's the job productivity by 9
per cent and cuts absenteeism by two percent, say many a surveys and yet
little is done to regularly conduct health audits and introduction of
preventive measures and health care benefits and vouchers. Appalaingly,
a study has said that more than half of the executives in India were
prone to lifestyle diseases and nearly 71 per cent of the employees and
82 percent of the CEOs were overweight.
As the Government, with a little help from private agencies and
non-governmental organizations seeks to improve the health of its
population, there is cause for serious concern at the ground level, to
reduce which is going to be a colossal task. The estimated loss in
India's national income as a result of heart diseases, stroke and
diabetes in 2005 was US $ 9 billion and it is projected to exceed $200
billion over the next ten years.
While the corporate sector has quickly taken the hint of the usefulness
of preventive health care, on the whole policy has lagged behind and to
date there are no fiscal or other incentives to encourage prevention,
says a recent study conducted by Indian Council for Research on
International Economic Relations. The ICRIER report, in its study based
on a survey of disparate companies across 15 states of India showed 12
per cent of blue-collared workers were at a high-risk of getting a
debilitating disease as compared to four percent of the medium and
senior level employee. While blue collared workers are generally
afflicted with acute as well as chronic infectious diseases like
tuberculosis and AIDS, senior executives are more prone to life style
diseases, owing to lack of exercise and dietary control.
It has been pointed out that ICRIER's survey corroborates was Apollo
Hospitals found in its study on health and wellness survey of 2003 the
study said more than half of the executives were prone to lifestyle
diseases and nearly 71 per cent of the employees and 82 percent of the
CEOs were overweight. It had also found that nearly 48 percent of the
employees and 69 percent of the CEOs were physically unfit.
The study titled Impact of Preventive Healthcare on Industry and
Economy, said public spending on health had stagnated at 0.9 percent of
the GDP since the mid 1980s and the government per capita health
expenditure is one of the lowest.
The direct impact of employee sickness is reflected in man days lost.
The ICRIER survey shows almost a quarter of the companies lose
approximately 50 man days in a year due to sickness. Another 34 percent
companies lose between 10 to 50 man days. This translates into an equal
percentage of loss in their productivity and profits. Only a preventive
health care strategy can reduce the chance of sickness and sick leave.
To mitigate some of the cost, two thirds of the respondent companies
have introduced preventive healthcare as part of their corporate
governance strategy. However, less than one third make provision for the
whole range of preventive health care measures for their staff.
Many of them feel providing health insurance is good enough. The report
suggests a well designed employee wellness programme by companies could
lead to 25 per cent reduction in their health plan costs, sick-leave
disability pay and workers' compensation. Reducing just one health risk
increases an employee's the job productivity by 9 per cent and cuts
absenteeism by two percent.
The ICRIER report sums up with some suggestions, both for the Government
and the business cum industrial houses of the country. These include
conducting a health audit of all employees at regular intervals,
introduction of preventive health care benefits and vouchers.
What afflicts the average Indian the most- be it the office goer, the
factory worker or the home maker? Recent studies conducted by AIIMS on
behalf of a media related social welfare group has said that despite the
high prevalence of diabetes, HIV and cancer, it has been found that
osteoarthritis beats them all to claim the number one slot among
ailments in the country.
Osteoarthritis is a condition in which the cartilage that acts as
cushion between bones in joints begins to wear out, causing inflammation
and pain in joints, thereby restricting movement. According to the media
house report, in the age group 25 to 35 years, the most common ailments
on both the sexes are spondylosis and adult asthma. Women also have a
high incidence of slipped disc and rheumatoid arthritis. Migraine seems
to be almost exclusively a woman's disease, with vary low prevalence
among men.
In general, prevalence of various ailments was higher among women. But,
certain diseases like Hepatitis B, end stage renal disease and oral
cancer mostly affect men. With comparatively very low prevalence among
women. Hypothyroidism, on the other hand, is an exclusively female
ailment. A surprise finding is that depression, seen more as a woman's
ailment, is widely prevalent across gender and age groups.
When it comes to awareness about ailments, diabetes tops the list,
followed by HIV and various cancers, which can be interpreted, as
heartening news for those involved in awareness campaigns for HIV and
breast cancer. What is worrying however is the rather low awareness
about widely prevalent bone ailments, migraine disorders, depression and
hypothyroidism.
Surely, it is not an easy task on hand. What can be aimed at therefore,
is a simple austere lifestyle for the man on the street, instead of
fancy eating and car-riding population who face serious health problems
by the time they are middle aged. |
