Healthcare sector should start preparing for the next pandemic before this one ends

By Praveen Sinha, Jabong Co Founder

One sector the pandemic has managed to expose for it’s vulnerabilities has been the healthcare sector. “It’s really alarming to note that the United States of America which had a 83.5% pandemic readiness score (GHS Index), being the worst affected country in the world,” says Praveen SinhaJabongCo Founder. On the same index, India has a 46.5 score, and if we are to fare better against future pandemics we need to heavily invest in improving our healthcare system.

The shortcomings and solutions 

1. In 2017-18, India spent 1.28% of the GDP on healthcare. Healthcare deserves more priority and expenditure, and this is the right time to make the necessary changes.
2. More investment on virus and vaccine research is the need of the hour. India will need more centers dedicated to the study of such viruses to understand and better prepare the antidotes when necessary.
3. The need for more well funded medical schools has never been more apparent. Every year lakhs of medical aspirants are left without the opportunity to pursue medicine because there aren’t enough seats in the education system,” says JabongCo Founder Praveen Sinha.
4. Uniform Health Care plan for every Indian. While certain schemes by the present government are really proving to be a boon for the weaker sections of the society, the country’s middle class is still struggling to afford proper healthcare. A public insurance policy should be explored by the Government.
5. Better control of information dissemination. Too many fake news and rumors around the virus has spread all across India which makes tackling the pandemic an even harder task. Public Awareness systems need to be overhauled and the Govt. should ensure that they are efficiently delivering correct information.
6. More proactivity in issuing restrictions. We need to close down international borders before major spreads occur across the country. Our population doesn’t allow us luxuries like proper contact tracing, mass quarantine and hospitalization for all.
7. Self sufficiency in handling a future pandemic. India of the future should be able to source vaccines, medicines, PPE kits and other medical accessories within the country instead of depending on foreign countries.

Conclusion 

Every crisis brings with it some new opportunities. During the pandemic, India became the 2nd largest PPE kit producer in the whole world and we are also expected to be one of the largest mass producers of the vaccine in the coming years, says Sinha. There have been a lot of miscalculations and mistakes made while handling this crisis but, these will only prove to be valuable learnings for the future. Everyone who has lived through this pandemic, will have a responsibility to be better prepared, when the next one comes around,” Praveen SinhaJabong Co Founder.