Importance of women health from economic perspective

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The Health of the people is an index of the prosperity and well being of a country. It is of paramount importance as a national assert and basis to sustain as well as to stimulate optimum levels of efficiency.

Now-a-days it is widely recognized that human capital place a dominant role in the context of economic development and health is an important component of human capital. The issue of health is of greater importance both from the point of view of individuals and the nation. It is through enhancement of health status, that a country like India can accelerate the pace of economic development and minimize wastage of human resources in terms of mortality and morbidity. In fact, health status exercises profound influence on human resource development and effective utilization of human resources. There is, broadly a correspondence between the level of economic development attained by a country and the health of its population. Improvement in the health of human resources leads to increase the productivity and also helps them to enjoy output of these efforts fully.

Health is a common theme in most cultures. Health continues to be a neglected entity despite lip services. At the individual levels, it cannot be said that health occupies an important place. It is usually subjected to other needs defined as more important, e.g.., wealth, power, prestige, knowledge, security. Health is often taken for granted, and its value is not fully understood until it is lost.

For the majority of the world's people, health status is determined primarily by their level of social economic development. The precipitate GNP is the most widely accepted measures of general economic performance. There can be no doubt that in many developing countries, it is the economic progress that has been the major factor in reducing morbidity, increasing life expectancy and improving the quality of life. The economic status determines the purchasing power, standard of disease and behaviour in the community. It is also an important factor in seeking Health care.

The very state of being employed in productive work promotes health, because the unemployed usually show a higher incidence of ill health and death for many, loss of work may mean loss of income and status. It can cause psychological and social damage.

Health is related to the country's political system. Decisions concerning resource allocation, man power polity, choice of technology and the degree to which Health services are made available and assessable to different segments of society are examples of the manner in which the political system can shape community health services. The percentage of GNP spent on health is qualitative indicator of health status of people.

If poor health patterns are to be changed, then changes must be made in the entire socio-political systems in any given community. Social, economic and political are required to eliminate health hazards in people's working and living environment. To be effective, the health services must reach the social periphery, equitably distributed, assessable at a cost the country and community can offered and socially acceptable.

Health is essential to socio-economic development has gained increasing recognition. Health services are no longer considered nearly as a complex of solely medical measures but a ˜sub-system' of an overall socio-economic system. Human health and well being are the ultimate goal of development.

Health is the essential pre-requesting for every human beings "If wealth is lost nothing is lost, if health is lost everything is lost". There is no explanation regarding the statement. It goes without saying the health determines economic status of people problem of health is the problem of economic development.

It was felt that health cannot be seen in isolation from the political, social, and economic forces operating in the country. The well being of the individual even the health of individuals is subjected to a process of production for profits. A person's health is seen only in the context of the extraction of labour for profit. Health services are therefore, to be seen as a part and parcel of the total emancipation of human beings.

Generally women and children in rural areas have not much worried about their health. The fate of women, young children and girls are inextricably linked together in a complex interacting cycle. This becomes poignantly evident in the case of the poor, who is India constitute slightly more than a third of the population.

Women's health has always been viewed in terms of Maternal and Child Health services (MCH). The women's movement and the health movement in India have brought to the realization that the ill health of women hinges on a wide concept arising from existing political, economic and social norms in which women are second class citizens.

The lack of Primary Survival needs like clear drinking water, nutritious and adequately available food; healthy and safe housing particularly affects women causing them a number of health problems physical and psychological. There is a great disparity between women's calorific expenditure and calorific-in-take. This manifests itself as illness, especially anaemia.

Generally women are prone to a number of health problems due to the nature of their work, and they too lack adequate facilities. The female child in India is Non-person or a Non-being. For the declining sex rate in India, demographers have excluded the possibility of enumeration deficiencies and the main reason for this unusual sex rates in the loss of female life at an early age.

Growing up is one of the biggest concern of children and their parents. The condition of the child is truly the greatest present day problem and this realization is of great importance. It is humanity's duty to give the child the best it has to offer. Priority for children is based on the fact that the child is a defenceless being dependent on the world about it.

Everybody was once a child and we are all surrounded by families with children. Parents and other members of the family living together are the basic influence on children and the first source of meeting their needs. A child's need for love, for feeling safe and wanted as well as his physical needs for food, shelter are satisfied by the family.

Typically, children in developed countries enjoy good health. They have not had time yet to suffer from the wear-out diseases. They have lots of energy and their tissues adapt quickly to changing circumstances and heal promptly when injured. But in the less developed countries of the world mortality among children runs high.

Children constitute over 35% of the world's population. For generations to come they will be the most important product of any society, and this well being is one of the largest problems of the world today.

The consequences of poverty for children are in themselves servers. Poverty lays a particularly heavy burden on women because of their dual notes in the economy. Because of this, their health position has been continuously declining outside the home, these women are relegated to working in any field, where labour is hard, hours are long and wages are low. Though they become weak, they have to survive. For this, they must be in a position to have good health.

After the introduction of the Primary Health Centres in rural areas, people are forced to take this preventive and curative care. Primary Health Centres are more helpful to maternal and child care services. They have been giving immunization as the time requires. They would help the rural people to upkeep the health of their children. Problem of women health and the problem of child care have relieved from ill health after the introduction of Primary Health Centres. Since the problem affecting the mother and children are multi-factorial in origin, this study tries to understand the need of MCH services provided by PHC.

The ministry of Health and Family welfare evolved a national Health policy lays stress on the preventive, promotive public health and rehabilitation aspects of health care and points to the need of establishing comprehensive primary health care services to reach the population in the remotest areas of the country the need to view health and human development as a vital component of overall, integrated socio-economic development, decentralised system of health care delivery with maximum community and individual self-reliance and participation.

In the context of the size of the population, the socio-economic development and the existing health status of the people, the health policy in India has the following notable elements.

A greatest awareness of health problems and means to solve these in and by the communities;

Supply of safe drinking water and basic sanitation using technologies that the people can afford,

Reduction of existing imbalance in the health services by concentrating on the rural health infrastructure.

Establishment of a dynamic health management information system to support health planning and health programme implementation.

Provision of legislative support to health protection and promotion.

Concentrated actions to combat wide spread malnutrition;

Research into alternative methods of health care delivery and low-cost health technologies; and

Greater coordination of different system of medicine.

The health policy is supported by components of wider socio-economic policies addressed to the reduction of regional disparities fuller employment elementary education, integrated rural development, population control welfare of women and children etc.

The health strategies include restructuring the health infrastructure, developing health manpower, research and development.