Ninth International Conference on Health, Wellness & Society

Abstract

This paper is an estimate of the Ayushman Bharat-National Health Protection Scheme, of the Indian Government in light of the debate on Inclusive health. The paper seeks to address the concerns of the scheme, and looks specifically into the gender bias that this scheme seeks to redress. Health is a right but for long it was considered a privilege. By making healthcare an essential right, the state becomes accountable to its citizens. The paper traces the evolution of this debate. In tracing the history of health equity as a concept, the paper states that many- within and outside the World Health Organization (WHO) and its regional offices – have treated health equity as both an ideal and a moral necessity. The WHO has continued to express similar ideals through the Millennium Development Goals and more recently through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Many have discussed, defined, and argued about the concept of health equity.. The paper further enunciates the peculiarity of the Indian scenario. Health disparity in India tend to carry diverse narratives of inequities. Three main inequities among them are Inequities within the household, inequities between disaparate social identities, and inequities beween rural and urban healthcare systems. The Ayushman Bharat scheme which is touted as the largest healthcare insurance scheme in the world promises to be a game changer in India’s quest for health equity. The scheme is envisaged to address the systemic inequities and inequalities of the public health ecosystem of India.