Medical and Health Issues in Uttar Pradesh

What the official syllabus says

Main Examination, General Studies V:

• Medical and Health issues in UP.

Topics in detail

Health system

• Health is a State List subject; the Department of Medical, Health and Family Welfare and the Department of Medical Education
• Levels of care: sub-centres and Ayushman Arogya Mandirs (formerly Health and Wellness Centres), primary health centres, community health centres, district hospitals, medical colleges
• Front-line workers: ASHAs, auxiliary nurse midwives, anganwadi workers
• Ambulance services (102 and 108) and telemedicine (e-Sanjeevani)
• Leading institutions: King George's Medical University and Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (Lucknow), the Institute of Medical Sciences at BHU, AIIMS Gorakhpur and AIIMS Rae Bareli
• Expansion of government medical colleges across districts

Disease burden

• Communicable diseases: tuberculosis, malaria, dengue, kala-azar in a few eastern districts, diarrhoea
• Acute encephalitis syndrome and Japanese encephalitis in the Gorakhpur region; the fall in cases through vaccination, sanitation and house-to-house campaigns
• Non-communicable diseases: diabetes, hypertension, cancers, heart disease; screening at health centres
• Health effects of air and water pollution and of heat
• Mental health and the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017

Maternal and child health and nutrition

• Indicators to know from the National Family Health Survey and the Sample Registration System: maternal mortality, infant mortality, institutional births, full immunisation
• Schemes: Janani Suraksha Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan, Mission Indradhanush, Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram
• Malnutrition: stunting, wasting, anaemia; POSHAN Abhiyaan, the supplementary nutrition of anganwadis, mid-day meals
• Population and family planning: the total fertility rate and its fall

Financing and insurance

• Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana: cashless hospital cover for poor families
• State health insurance for families outside the central scheme
• Out-of-pocket spending and its role in pushing families into poverty
• National Health Mission funds and state spending on health

Issues and reforms

• Shortage of doctors, specialists and nurses, especially in rural areas
• Gaps in rural infrastructure, drugs and diagnostics; the state's medical supplies corporation
• Quality: National Quality Assurance Standards, Kayakalp awards for clean facilities
• Regulation of private hospitals and drug quality; food safety
• AYUSH systems and their place in public health
• Lessons from COVID-19: oxygen, testing, vaccination, surveillance

Public health and sanitation

• Sanitation, clean drinking water and hand-washing as the base of disease control
• Vector control for malaria, dengue and encephalitis: fogging, larval control, removing stagnant water
• House-to-house campaigns (such as 'Dastak') to find fever cases, encourage vaccination and spread awareness
• Disease surveillance under the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme and its successor, the Integrated Health Information Platform

Workforce and medical education

• MBBS and postgraduate seats in government and private colleges; admission through NEET
• Nursing, paramedical and pharmacy education; the shortage of trained nurses and technicians
• Incentives and compulsory rural service for doctors; recruitment of specialists on contract

Regional and social gaps

• Poorer indicators in many districts of eastern UP and Bundelkhand than in western UP
• Urban poor in slums: the National Urban Health Mission and urban health centres
• Gender gaps in nutrition and health care; the needs of the elderly and persons with disabilities

Health indicators worth tracking

Overlaps

• Social sector issues of health, education and human resources: General Studies II.
• Developmental indices and demography of UP: General Studies VI.