Context:
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India ranked 145th among 195 countries in terms of Healthcare access and quality (HAQ) index in the year 2016, behind its neighbours like China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan.
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The index was released as part of Global Burden of Disease study released by Lancet, one of the world’s oldest and best known peer-reviewed general medical journal.
Healthcare access and quality (HAQ) Index
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The study used index to measure quality and accessibility of healthcare, based on 32 causes of death which should be preventable with effective medical care.
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Each of 195 countries and territories assessed were given score between 0 (lowest)-100 (highest).
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For the first time, it also analysed healthcare access and quality between regions within seven countries: Brazil, China, India, England, Japan, Mexico, and US.
India’s Neighbours: India lags behind China (48th), Sri Lanka (71st), Bangladesh (133rd) and Bhutan (134th) in terms of levels of healthcare access and quality. But it is better than Nepal (149th), Pakistan (154th) and Afghanistan (191st).
India related Facts
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India has seen improvements in healthcare access and quality since 1990.
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In 2016, India’s healthcare access and quality scored at 41.2 (up from 24.7 in 1990).
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India performed poorly in tackling cases of rheumatic heart diseases, Ischaemic heart diseases, stroke, tuberculosis, testicular cancer, colon cancer and chronic kidney disease among others.
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Though, India’s improvements on HAQ index has hastened from 2000 to 2016, but gap between country’s highest and lowest scores widened (23·4-point difference in 1990, and 30·8-point difference in 2016).
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Goa and Kerala have highest HAQ index scores in 2016, each exceeding 60 points, whereas Assam and Uttar Pradesh have lowest, each below 40.