95 percent of ailments in India treated by allopathy, says NSS Survey

New Delhi: 95% of ailments in both rural and urban India, were treated by allopathy, revealed the results of a survey by National Statistical Office (NSO) that was performed during July 2017-June 2018.

The survey "HOUSEHOLD SOCIAL CONSUMPTION IN INDIA: HEALTH", focused on the gathering data on the various behaviours of the Indian Population, when it comes to health.It aimed to gather basic quantitative information on the health sector viz. morbidity, profile of ailments including their treatment, role of government and private facilities in providing healthcare, expenditure on medicines, expenditure on medical consultation and investigation, hospitalisation and expenditure thereon, maternity and childbirth, the condition of the aged, etc

The present survey included data from over 1.13 lakh households. Prior to this, there have been three such surveys carried out in 1995-96, 2004 and 2014.

The data showed that government/public hospitals accounted for 42 per cent of the in-patient hospitalisation (excluding childbirth). Private hospitals accounted for 55 per cent and charitable/trust/NGO-run hospitals accounted for 2.7 per cent of such cases.

When it came to treatment-seeking behaviour, the survey found allopathy remaining to be the dominant choice, noting that in both rural and urban India, 95% of ailments were treated by allopathy

It also revealed that average household medical expenditure, excluding childbirth, during hospitalisation at private hospitals was seven times more expensive than that of government hospitals in India during July 2017-June 2018,

"In government/public hospitals, the expenditure was about Rs 4,452 (about Rs 4,290 in rural and Rs 4,837 in urban areas). In private hospitals, the expenditure was about Rs 31,845 (about Rs 27,347 in rural and Rs 38,822 in urban areas)," stated NSO's 75th round of National Sample Survey (NSS) on Household Social Consumption related to Health

The average medical expenditure per hospitalisation case was about Rs 16,676 in rural, Rs 26,475 in urban India, it added.

The report said the average expenditure per hospital childbirth was about Rs 2,404 in rural India, and Rs 3,106 in urban areas for government hospitals. It was about Rs 20,788 in rural and Rs 29,105 in urban for private hospitals, it added.

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Surgery was done in about 28 per cent of hospital childbirth in India, as per the report.

Interestingly, only about 17 per cent of childbirths in government hospitals were surgery cases, of which over 92 per cent were provided free.

In private hospitals, about 55 per cent of childbirths were surgery cases and only 1 per cent was provided free.

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