Q 1 – What do the people expect from the government?
Ans. In a democracy people expect the government to work for their welfare.
Q 2 – What are the factors that affect the health?
Ans. Factors that affect our health are clean drinking water, a pollution-free environment, and cleanliness around us.
Q 3 – Name the categories of healthcare.
Ans. Various health care facilities can be divided into two categories-
- Public health services and
- Private health facilities.
Q 4 – Where are RMPs found?
Ans. Registered Medical Practitioners (RMPs) are found mainly in the rural areas.
Q 5 – What are communicable diseases?
Ans. These are diseases that are spread from one person to another in many ways such as through water, food, air etc.
Q 6 – What do you understand about ‘medical tourists’?
Ans. Patients who visit the other country for the purpose of medical treatment are called medical tourists.
Q 7 – What does OPD mean?
Ans. OPD stands for ‘Out Patient Department’. At this place, the people are first brought in and treated in a hospital without being admitted to any special ward.
Q 8 – Name some of the water-borne diseases.
Ans. Waterborne diseases are-diarrhea, worms, hepatitis etc.
Q 9 – What do we need to prevent and treat illnesses?
Ans. To prevent and treat illnesses we need appropriate healthcare facilities such as hospitals at nearby and approachable place, ambulances, doctors, medicines and laboratories etc.
Q 10 – Why was Hakim Sheik admitted?
Ans. He had fallen off a running train and suffered serious head injuries.
Q 11 – Who all can approach for private healthcare services?
Ans. Private healthcare services are very expensive and hence only rich person can utilize private healthcare services.
Q 12 – Name the facilities in short provided by the private healthcare services.
Ans. No doubt private healthcare services are very expensive, however, they provided very fast and prompt services such as doctors, emergency services, medicines, good nursing facilities, good food facilities for patients etc.
Q 13 – Why are services of public healthcare not considered well?
Ans. The services of public healthcare are not considered well because of various reasons such as availability of doctors only at a specific time, non-availability of emergency services, inadequacy of medicines etc.
Q 14 – What do you understand about Public Health Service? Describe in brief.
Ans. Public health services are run by governments both in urban and rural areas. The government has established these hospitals and health centres in order to provide health care to all citizens. These hospitals provide health care services either free or at a low cost, so that even the poor can seek treatment.
Q 15 – Write a short note on the medical facilities in India.
Ans. India has the largest number of medical colleges in the world and among one of the largest producer of doctors. In the year 1950 India has only 2,217 hospitals while in the year 2000 there were 18,218 hospitals in India. India gets a large number of medical tourists from many countries.
It means in India we have the best hospitals in the world. India is the fourth largest producer of medicines in the world and is also a large exporter of medicines.
Q 16 – Briefly describe about overall healthcare services in India.
Ans. Adequate healthcare is not available to all in the country. About 80% of the population cannot afford all the medicines, it means only 20% people are capable to afford the cost of medical facilities. The poor people are totally dependent on the public or government health care services.
The health care situation of most people in our country is not good for the poor and the disadvantaged citizens.
Q 17 – Which State government had made efforts very first time for vast public services?
Ans. First of all in 1996, the Kerala Govt, provisioned 40% of the entire budget for panchayats to provide various facilities for the rural people. In the field of drinking water, food, women development, education and health etc., the State Govt, of Kerala made many efforts.
Q 18 – Name the facilities provided by the private healthcare services.
Ans. No doubt private healthcare services are very expensive however, they provide very fast and prompt services. They provide every time availability of doctors; immediate emergency services; operation facilities at a time; ventilator, oxygen, medicines available at each time; Good nursing facilities; neat and clean hospitals; good food facilities for patients etc.
Q 19 – What are the challenges faced in the field of health care? Describe briefly.
Ans. Even though India has the largest number of medical colleges, doctors, hospitals and as a high producer of medicines there are many adverse situations in the country in this regard. The number of doctors with respect to population is much less in rural areas. About five lakh people die from tuberculosis every year, almost two million cases of malaria are reported every year.
Unavailability of drinking water to all and water borne diseases such as diarrhoea, worms, hepatitis etc., are found. About half of all children in India are undernourished.
Q 20 – Where was Aman taken for his treatment?
Ans. Aman was taken to a government hospital where his father stood in a queue for a long time. The doctor upon examining him prescribed some tests. They again stood in line to get tests done. The reports came after three days.
They again went to the doctor who prescribed just one fever-reducing medicine. The entire cost was only? 150.
Q 21 – What are the two categories of healthcare services?
Ans. There are two broad categories of healthcare services.
- Public health services.
- Private health facilities.
Q 22 – Briefly describe about private health facilities.
Ans. The health care services provided by the doctors from their own resources are called private health facilities. In other words, private health facilities are not owned or controlled by the government. There are many hospitals, nursing homes; laboratories etc., are being run by the private health provider.
There are large companies that run hospitals and some are engaged in manufacturing and selling medicines. A wide range of private health facilities exists in our country. A large number of doctors run their own private clinics.
Q 23 – How is public health service provided?
Ans. Our Central and State governments both provided public health service to its people by establishing a chain of hospitals. Governments made plan, policy and allocated budget for this purposes. Doctors are made through many medical colleges. Primary health center at block level and District hospitals at district level have been established.
In many villages, dispensaries have also been established for the rural public. Aanganwadi and village health workers are appointed at village level. Thus, our government is providing health services to the public.
Q 24 – What kind of campaigns are organised by the government?
Ans. Governments organises awareness campaigns with people participation. For example mosquitoes should not be allowed to breed in coolers, rooftops etc
Q 25 – What is the story board about?
Ans. This story board is about Aman a child of poor parents and Ranjan belonging to a well to do family. Both suffered from viral fever and got treated at different places.
Q 26 – What is public healthcare service?
Ans. Public healthcare service is the responsibility of every government. ‘Right to life’ is a fundamental right and is directly associated with the healthcare services. Each and every person irrespective of their social or economic background have right to get healthcare services.
Government also take necessary action to prevent the diseases like TB, diarrhea, malaria, jaundice, cholera, chikungunya, dengue etc. For this purpose, government established infrastructure and manpower, so that every person could get medical facility.
Q 27 – What are private health facilities?
Ans. Private Health facilities are not owned to controlled by the government. There patients have to pay for every service they use.
Now we have more of private facilities. These may be run by large companies that manufacture or sell medicines.
Q 28 – Why are the taxes paid to the governments?
Ans. Government uses tax money for providing many public services for the benefit of all citizens. Some services such as defense, police, judicial system, highway, roads, drinking water, electricity, education, training programs, healthcare, etc., benefit all citizens. Tax money is also utilized for relief and rehabilitation in case of natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes, tsunami etc.
Apart from this, Space, nuclear, and missile programmes are also funded from the revenues collected as taxes. From the taxes, government runs many programmes for upliftment of poor and marginalized people.
Q 29 – What do people expect from government in a democracy?
Ans.
- In a democracy people expect the government to work for their welfare.
- This is done through the provision of education, health, employment, housing, development of roads, electricity, etc.
Q 30 – What is health? Explain the factors that affect health.
Ans. Health:
- Health means our ability to remain free of (from) illness and injuries,.
- Health is not only about disease. It is also associated with other factors.
- Apart from disease we need to think of other factors that affect our health.
- There are other factors that influence our health.
- If people get clean drinking water or a pollution free environment they are likely to be healthy.
- Conversely if people do not get adequate food to eat or have to live in dirty conditions they will become victims to illnesses.
- All of us always like to be active and in good spirits.
- It is not healthy to be dull, inactive, anxious or scared for long stretches of time. We all need to be free from mental strain.
Q 31 – What are the improvements in healthcare facilities in India?
Ans. There are many developments like:
- Largest number of medical colleges in the world.
- Approximately 15,000 new doctors every year.
- About 18,218 hospitals by year 2000.
- Extension of medical tourism due to low cost of treatments.
- Fourth largest producer of medicines.
Q 32 – Write some of the negative aspects of our healthcare system.
Ans. The following are some of the drawbacks of our healthcare:
- Most doctors settle in urban areas, less doctors in rural areas.
- Two million cases of malaria and five lakh cases of tuberculosis every year.
- Water borne communicable diseases like diarrhoea, hepatitis on the rise. About 21% has no access to clean water.
- Half of all children are mal-nourished.
- Private health on rise and Public health care system has not grown as per the need.
Q 33 – What do we need to prevent and treat diseases?
Ans.
- In order to prevent and treat illnesses we need appropriate healthcare facilities.
- They are health centres, hospitals, laboratories for testing, ambulance services, blood banks, etc.
- They can provide the required care and services that patients need.
- In order to run these facilities we need health workers, nurses, qualified doctors and other health professionals who can advise, diagnose and treat illnesses.
- We also need medicines and equipments that are necessary for treating patients.
Q 34 – Give an account of the position of healthcare services in India.
Ans. Healthcare Services in India:
- India has a large number of doctors, clinics and hospitals.
- It also has considerable experience and knowledge, in running a public healthcare system. This system of hospitals and health centres is run by the government.
- It has the ability to look after the health of a large section of its population scattered over lakhs of villages.
- There has been a phenomenal improvement in medical sciences with many new technologies and treatment procedures.
Q 35 – How can we say that health situation in India is very poor?
Ans.
- It is said that health situation in our country is very poor.
- We are not able to provide proper healthcare facilities to people.
- Our country has the money, knowledge and people with experience but cannot make the necessary healthcare available to all because of certain short-comings on our part.
Q 36 – Explain the main features of Public Health Services.
Ans. Main features of Public Health Services:
- Public Health Service is a chain of health centres and hospitals run by the government.
- They are linked together to cover both rural and urban areas.
They provide treatment to all kinds of problems from common illnesses to special services.
- At the village level there are health centres.
- It usually has a nurse and a village health worker.
- They are trained in dealing with common illnesses.
- They work under the supervision of doctors at the Primary Healthcare (PHC).
- This centre covers many villages in a rural area.
- At the district level is the District Hospital.
- It supervises all the health centres.
- Large cities have many government hospitals like the one where Aman was taken and also specialised government hospitals like the ones in Hakim Sheik’s story.
Q 37 – What are the reasons for the health services to be called public?
Ans. The health service is called ‘public’ for many reasons.
- They fulfil their commitment of providing healthcare to all citizens.
The government has established these hospitals and health centres. - The resources needed to run these services are obtained from the money that we the public pay to the government as taxes.
- These services are meant for everyone.
- One of the most important aspects of the public health system is quality healthcare services either free or at a low cost.
- Even the poor can seek treatment there.
- Another important function of public health is to take action to prevent the spread of diseases like TB, malaria, jaundice, cholera, diarrhoea, chikengunya, etc.
- These services are organised by the government with the participation of
.
Q 38 – What did the Court say in the case of Hakim Sheik?
Ans.
- According to Indian Constitution, it is the primary duty of the government to ensure the welfare of the people.
- It also lays emphasis to provide healthcare facilities to all.
- The government must safeguard the right to life of every person.
- The Court said that the difficulty that Hakim Sheik had to face could have cost him his life.
If a hospital cannot provide timely medical treatment to a person it means that - The Court also said that it was the duty of the government to provide the necessary health services with treatment in emergency situations.
- Hospitals and medical staff must fulfil their duty of providing the necessary treatment.
- Hakim Sheik was denied treatment at various government hospitals.
- Therefore, the Court asked the State Government to give him the money that he had spent on his treatment
Q 39 – Explain the major features of private health services.
Ans. Problems faced by Aman
- Non-availability of doctors.
- Junked and non-operational equipments.
- Non-availability of medicines.
- Crowded.
- Indifference of doctors etc.
- Proper and strict administration can get the hospitals work in better manner.
Q 40 – Is adequate healthcare available to all of us? Explain.
Ans. Adequate healthcare is not available to all.
- Private facilities are increasing but the Public services are not.
- Private services are concentrated in urban areas and are costly.
- Poor have to go to Public services which are crowded. They have to borrow money in case of an illness in the family.
- Sometime wrong practices are encouraged to earn more money—like prescribing unnecessary medicines or tests.
- Only about 20% can afford all the medicines required and more than 40% have to borrow money.
- In case of women and tribal areas the health concerns are ignored.