How CSR can improve India's healthcare ?

Even after 72 years of India’s Independence, inequality in access to healthcare facility for all is a crippling issue. Around 70% of India’s rural population has limited access to quality healthcare. Even in urban cities, the healthcare facilities are not at par to deal with the country’s burgeoning requirement. Over 63 million people in India are pushed to poverty every year due to healthcare costs. 

Public health is a state subject in India and the role of the central govt is to complement the efforts of the states by ensuring a robust policy framework for the state to implement. However, India’s spending on healthcare is estimated to be around 1.5% of the GDP which in comparison to other countries is significantly low. Although life expectancy has increased substantially over the years, we still lag in implementing proper policies to solve issues like maternal mortality and infant mortality rate.

With the advent of privatisation, the quality of medical facilities has increased to a greater extent. Private hospitals are capacitated enough to provide excellent care and medical amenities but they are beyond the reach of most people. Though some private hospitals are affordable they are overcrowded and lack responsiveness.

To achieve desirable results of good health and well-being and achieve universal access to good quality healthcare services, preventive and promotive health care orientation in all developmental policies is needed. However, expecting the govt to solve all issues  is not the solution.  The private sector can also play a major role to support healthcare through their 2% CSR mandate. In recent years, Corporates are majorly spending into healthcare. According to a report published by KPMG, Indian companies spent Rs 1641 crore in the year 2018 towards health care. However, much of the spends were focussed on health camps, building infrastructure or donation to hospitals to keep it functioning. 

Given the current issues India’s medical care is suffering and corporates can do a lot through CSR activities around healthcare. There is an urgent need to shift focus on primary care than improving tertiary care. Here the pharmacies in the interior of the country could be trained to provide medicines for common health problems. Basic diagnostics for blood pressure, diabetics etc can be provided with affordable and efficient health service.

Corporates run many hospitals under their name and have access to greater resources. This advantage can be utilized by providing incentives to doctors to spend their time in rural or remote areas. Further, considering the shortage of well-trained doctors corporates can subsidize medical education in forms of scholarships for deserving students. Corporates can also partner with existing medical colleges for expansion of facilities, upgrading teaching patterns, providing access to medical literature etc.

Another solution to improve the healthcare scenario is to promote health insurance, especially for the poor and underserved communities. Companies can partner with pharma companies to enable distribution of relatively cheaper medicines and provide them health insurance facility. Major CSR intervention in the health sector focuses on promoting health check-up camp whereas there is also a need to emphasise on measuring the outcome of these health checkups on the community and follow up on further treatments.

We are equipped with the necessary resources to fulfil the sustainable development goal of good health and well being. All we need is the right place and channel to implement them. We hope to do it soon enough. 

About Fiinovation Company

Fiinovation (Innovative Financial Advisors Pvt. Ltd.), is a global CSR consulting firm operating in multiple disciplines of the social development sector. It’s emphasises on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainability initiatives/programmes.

Fiinovation started its journey in the year 2008 under the guidance of Mr. Soumitro Chakraborty (Fiinovation CEO). Over the past 8 years, it has grown leaps in every aspect of operations in the social sector. Fiinovation has also been successful in bridging the gap between businesses and communities through value based CSR Projects in India by engaging with various corporations and credible NGOs in the field of health, environment, education, livelihood& skills.

Fiinovation Contact - 24/30, Ground Floor, Okhla Industrial Estate Phase 3 Rd, New Delhi, Delhi 110020.