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<keyword id="22976106" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="indoor" source="keywords">Indoor</keyword> <keyword id="19900550" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="air-pollution" source="keywords">air pollution</keyword> is a bigger <keyword id="21117961" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="health-risk" source="keywords">health risk</keyword> than <keyword id="20543591" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="outdoor" source="keywords">outdoor</keyword> air pollution in India, and sometimes cities are cleaner than nearby villages where <keyword id="22976772" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="household-pollution" source="keywords">household pollution</keyword> is higher, according to the country's two top policy experts. Addressing the India <keyword id="20445293" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="clean-air" source="keywords">Clean Air</keyword> Summit (ICAS) 2024, Principal Advisor, <keyword id="19904190" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ministry-of-Health-and-Family-Welfare" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Ministry of Health and Family Welfare" meta.hostid="83" meta.entityid="Ministry of Health and Family Welfare">Ministry of Health and Family Welfare</keyword>, Soumya Swaminathan said, "Studies done in Delhi have shown that women's average exposure to high levels of <keyword id="20827287" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="black-carbon" source="keywords">black carbon</keyword> (women <keyword id="19895006" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="WHO" source="keywords">who</keyword> are mostly at home) is as much as auto-rickshaw passengers going around outdoor exposed to the ambient air pollution in Delhi, resulting in high systolic blood pressure." "Cities contribute less than 20 per cent to the overall state emissions, wherever they have been assessed, but household emissions predominate, ranging between 20 per cent and 40 per cent. Across the country, we are seeing is that sometimes cities are cleaner than the surrounding villages where household air pollution predominates," she said at the summit organised by think-tank Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy. This builds a strong case for expanding the scope of India's National Clean Air Programme (<keyword id="20133150" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="NCAP" source="keywords">NCAP</keyword>), which currently focuses on non-attainment cities. Air pollution is a major threat to public health and contributes to a significant amount of morbidity as well as mortality. Apart from PM2.5 and PM10, short-lived climate pollutants such as black carbon, methane, ozone, and hydrocarbons have the potential to harm the environment and warm the atmosphere even more than CO2. Black carbon can cause chronic respiratory illnesses, lung cancer, emphysema, pneumonia, asthma, heart disease, and low birthweight. "In terms of reducing our life expectancy, globally, PM2.5 is contributing to about 2.3 years of life lost. Just below that is tobacco. In fact, there's so much attention on tobacco and global frameworks for control, but not the same level of attention has been paid to PM2.5 and certainly not the same level of commitments," Swaminathan said. The impact of air pollution is not limited to public health but has a significant economic cost as well. Recently, the World Bank published a study highlighting that air pollution has resulted in a loss of around USD 8.1 trillion in 2019, which is 6.1 per cent of the global gross domestic product (GDP). "We are always talking about air pollution as a problem but studies also show a strong economic case for action on clean air. There are significant positive consequences to investing in cleaning up the air in terms of the return on investments. We know air pollution is not just bad for our health, but it's also bad for agriculture, because it reduces the sunlight that's reaching the crops and it's bad for our economy or any country's economy as it deters people from coming and living or visiting those places," Swaminathan added. Kalpana Balakrishnan, Director, WHO Collaborating Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, said that the main barrier to shifting to clean cooking fuels that can help reduce household air pollution levels is finance. "If we give free LPG to women for two years, they are unlikely to shift back to biomass cooking even if you remove the subsidies," she said. Through Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) launched in May 2016, more than 100 million households in India received LPG cylinders by the end of March 2023. Studies shows over 50 per cent of the households that received new LPG cylinders under PMUY did not choose to refill it even once. Around a third of the world's population - 2.4 billion people globally (including 500 million people in India) - still lack access to clean cooking solutions. Although the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MOPNG) claims that the country's household LPG "coverage" stands at 99.8 per cent, the National Family Health Survey conducted in 2019-21 (NFHS-5) shows that 41 per cent of the population still cooks on biomass.

Indoor air pollution poses greater health risk than outdoor: Experts

When Josef Woodman's shoulder gave out in 2012 — strained from chopping firewood on his farm outside Chapel Hill, North Carolina — he said he was quoted between $2,400 and $3,200 for an MRI at Duke University Hospital.He didn't want to shell out the cost of a nice vacation just to find out he didn't need surgery, so he decided to wait, even as his mobility decreased to the point where he had to severely limit his farm work and could hold only one-third of the weight he normally could. Two years later, his patience was rewarded: While on a work trip to Bangkok, he got an MRI for just $460, landing an appointment two days after his consultation at a hospital."The results came back and they said, 'You don't need surgery. You've got a separated rotator cuff,'" Woodman said. The surgeon prescribed physical therapy, which he completed in the US. "The shoulder got way better," he told me. He was glad he waited.Like Woodman, millions of Americans travel abroad for medical procedures each year, saving anywhere from 40% to 90% on the services they receive. Many <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(18)30620-X/fulltext">don't have health insurance</a> or don't get coverage for the procedures they seek out — dental work and cosmetic procedures like breast implants and liposuction are by far the most popular. There's also a small but growing market for people seeking thorough checkups and testing abroad. An ascendant medical-tourism industry is offering these types of screenings, including MRIs and electrocardiograms, in beautiful locations around the world and packaging them with transportation, accommodations, food, shopping, and sightseeing. And with an increasing obsession with "wellness" and celebrities like Kim Kardashian promoting full-body imaging, it's easy to see why more and more Americans are looking to pair cabanas with CAT scans."If you've got some kind of joint pain, or if you have some kind of condition that isn't progressing, incorporate that into your normal travel plans," Woodman, now 72, said. In 2007, he founded Patients Beyond Borders, a healthcare-consulting company that helps Americans plan medical vacations, after growing up taking trips to Mexico for dental work with his dad. "In any kind of industrialized nation, you'd be able to get access to good-quality screening and people who can interpret the results," he said.Medical tourism comes with risks; the American Medical Association recommends going only to medical facilities recognized by international accrediting bodies and following up testing with care at home. But a growing number of Americans are willing to take those risks, as suites of tests abroad are often cheaper and faster than just a single test in the US."We just don't have a preventative-oriented society here in the United States," Woodman said. "Our approach is reactive."In a July <a target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@bryn.elise/video/7386406512593325355?lang=en">TikTok</a> that's amassed over 17 million views, Bryn Elise documented her experience at a Turkish hospital where she received over 30 scans and tests, including an EKG, chest X-ray, and abdominal and thyroid ultrasounds, in a single day. The bill? $830. Without insurance, the cost of an EKG alone in the US <a target="_blank" href="https://enhancehealth.com/blog/how-much-does-an-ekg-cost-at-urgent-care-without-insurance/#:~:text=The%20total%20cost%20of%20an,where%20you%20get%20the%20service.">can vary from $100 to $5,000</a>."Personally, I'd rather spend $700 on a flight to Turkey, get dozens of tests there, and take a whole vacation than spend the thousands that this would have cost in the United States," Elise said in the video, which also featured clips of her on a beach, poolside, and eating a spread of delicious-looking Turkish veggie bowls. The 29-year-old health- and beauty-tourism influencer said she booked the trip because she wanted to investigate some "mysterious ailments," including brain fog, vision problems, and heart palpitations, without paying America's sky-high healthcare costs. She told her followers she had struggled with an eating disorder for 10 years and that "since our US checkups are only a tap on the knee and a blood-pressure check, I've been low-key terrified that I've caused permanent damage to my body but would never find out until it's too late."Her tests unearthed an astigmatism, early signs of osteoporosis, and "critically low" levels of vitamin B12. "The feeling of impending doom I've had due to health concerns is gone," Elise said.She chose a hospital that had been accredited by the Joint Commission International, an Illinois-based organization that has accredited over 1,000 health facilities in more than 70 countries. Dr. Paulo Neno, an international-accreditation surveyor at the commission, told Business Insider the accreditation process takes up to two years to complete and is renewed every three years. It includes a 12-part evaluation, during which a team of doctors and nurses visit the medical facility and assess everything from its operating theaters and intensive-care units to its power and water systems."We are focused on understanding how they are providing safe care for high-risk patients," Neno said.It's unclear, though, how many medical tourists visit accredited facilities, and there's still the question of whether all these tests are useful for someone who is seemingly in good health. Woodman knew he had an issue that needed to be examined, but Elise was more interested in a holistic screening regimen. One person commented on Elise's TikTok, "The hypochondriac in me thinks this is the perfect vacation. I'd go every year."Since COVID-19 came into the picture, health screenings and extensive physicals have received some buzz. Last year, Kardashian got a full-body MRI done by Prenuvo, a US chain of diagnostic clinics that offers the service for $2,500. In an Instagram post promoting it, Kardashian described it as a "life saving machine" that could detect cancer or conditions like aneurysms in their earliest stages. Especially given the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/colon-cancer-cases-doubled-young-people-2024-5">rise in colon cancer</a> among young people — a disease that can spread with no or minimal symptoms — <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/get-colonoscopy-colon-cancer-symptoms-colorectal-oncologist-2024-4">early screenings</a> are on more people's minds.But Arturo Vargas Bustamante, an associate professor of health policy and management at the University of California, Los Angeles, said these kinds of rigorous tests can often do more harm than good."You may get a lot of things that you may not need based on your age profile, or you may get screenings that ultimately would find something that could lead to treatment that may harm you," he said. US guidelines on which demographics should get tested are based on scientific evidence, he added, while clinics abroad may be more motivated by profit.If a test finds cancer at a very early stage when it's very slow-moving, Vargas Bustamante said, the patient may feel compelled to treat it immediately, subjecting themself to chemotherapy and radiation. But in reality, it's possible they could have gone years without needing to start treatment. "Sometimes knowing too much may not be that good for you," he said.Others, however, think that America's lack of access to robust preventive screening is a critical failure.Dr. Misael Uribe Ramos is the director of international medicine at Médica Sur in Mexico City, a Joint Commission International-accredited hospital that offers checkups with eight different specialists for $1,600. Uribe Ramos has seen interest in rigorous physicals boom since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic — and he thinks it's a good thing.Often when you go to the doctor, it's to treat a specific issue or disease, he said. "But why is that? Because you don't have prevention," he said. "Prevention is the best way to be healthy."In America, chronic illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer are leading causes of death and disability, driving the majority of the US's $4.5 trillion in yearly healthcare expenses, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cdc.gov/chronic-disease/about/index.html">according to</a> the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These illnesses are largely preventable. The CDC also says that between 30% and 50% of cancers diagnosed today could be prevented by reducing risk factors (like not smoking and maintaining a healthy body weight) and getting recommended screenings and vaccinations. However, according to the <a target="_blank" href="https://health.gov/news/202401/prevention-still-best-medicine">US Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion</a>, only 5.3% of Americans 35 and older received all recommended clinical prevention services in 2020 — a number that dropped from 8.5% in 2015. Why? Simply put, many Americans aren't regular healthcare users. They often don't have a family doctor, they live too far from one, they don't have a way to get there, or they simply can't afford it, the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion says. Meanwhile, preventive-care services aren't prioritized because healthcare providers are paid to treat diseases — not to prevent them by keeping people healthy. A 2020 study said the National Academy of Medicine <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7309216/">estimated</a> that missed prevention opportunities cost the US $55 billion annually.Other countries take a different approach. In Japan, for instance, the most basic annual checkups include EKGs, chest X-rays, blood tests, eye and hearing tests, and stool and urine tests. And some residents require a more comprehensive version that includes cancer screening. Japanese employers are required to provide them for all of their employees. In 2019, about 74% of men and 66% of women in Japan completed some type of medical checkup, according to the country's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.South Korea's regimen is similar to Japan's. On a work trip there in 2010, Woodman had extensive testing done, including an MRI and CT scan, as part of a "wellness preventative program" he tried out for work, he said. He was offered an endoscopy and colonoscopy as part of the package but declined."Testing in the United States is really kind of pathetic," Woodman said. "They weigh you. They take your blood test. 'How tall are you?' And that's pretty much it."Americans seeking better preventive screening tend to visit South Korea, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates, while Mexico, Barbados, and Thailand are popular for genetic and fertility testing, as well as testing related to gender-affirming care, medical-tourism advocates told BI.Many of these countries have hospitals that cater to foreigners. In Mexico, Médica Sur's checkups take about five hours, with screenings across disciplines such as internal medicine, cardiology, gynecology, and ophthalmology. (In the US, a typical physical takes less than an hour.) Packages include breakfast, transportation, accommodation, menus catering to dietary restrictions, discounted sightseeing for an extra cost, and concierge staff who help patients coordinate their stay and remain by their side for the duration. The hospital is also connected to a Holiday Inn if visitors want to stay on-site.Results are available within two weeks, at which point the patient can discuss the findings with a doctor in person or remotely; a checkup three months later is also included in the price. If, for example, the screenings indicate a malignant tumor, Uribe Ramos said, doctors will explain to a patient which follow-up tests they need, either in their home country or at Médica Sur. He recommends getting a thorough exam once a year.Since opening its international-medicine wing in 2019, the hospital has seen 5,000 foreign patients, most of them American and Canadian, Uribe Ramos said.Imani Bashir was living in Cancún three years ago when she felt what she thought was a lump in her breast. At the time she was 34 — <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cancer.org/cancer/screening/screening-recommendations-by-age.html#:~:text=Women%20ages%2040%20to%2044,should%20get%20mammograms%20every%20year.">young</a> to be receiving a mammogram — but her family had a history of the disease, so she booked an appointment anyway. In the US, the median <a target="_blank" href="https://ascopubs.org/doi/10.1200/JCO.2023.41.16_suppl.e18917">cost</a> of a mammogram ranges from $140 to $360 for women who aren't insured. In Mexico, it was under $50. As a Black woman who grew up in the US without health insurance, the 37-year-old communications director found the experience especially validating."When we go to the doctor and say that we're in pain, it's kind of just shooed away, like it's not a big deal," Bashir said. In Mexico, the medical center didn't question her. Now that she's living in Washington, DC, she continues to travel to Mexico for both her and her son's dental appointments and other medical issues because it's cheaper and easier to get appointments. "It always feels good when you feel like you can take care of yourself, and financially, it's not going to be a detriment to your life and your health," she says.Given how many people experience difficulty navigating the American healthcare system, it's no surprise that the medical-tourism market is growing rapidly. Patients Beyond Borders estimates the industry is growing between 15% and 25% each year. And 2022 <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9104082/#:~:text=The%20increase%20in%20medical%20tourism,other%20time%20in%20the%20past.">research</a> found that the increase in international tourism had helped fuel the trend. As <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/travel-agents-back-gen-z-millennials-vacation-planning-overseas-resorts-2024-6">more people spend time abroad</a>, it becomes easier to tack a few small medical tests onto your trip.Vargas Bustamante thinks traveling internationally for rigorous testing probably most benefits healthy people who just want "peace of mind." Despite the risk factors, the industry's growing appeal illustrates the limitations of American healthcare."Why would someone have to buy a plane ticket to go all the way on the other side of the world just for an adequate amount of healthcare? It's nuts," Bashir said. "But if people have the privilege, if people have the money to be able to do so, then I say, yeah."<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/manisha-krishnan">Manisha Krishnan</a> is an Emmy award-winning journalist who covers healthcare. She is based in Brooklyn.

Mojitos and an MRI: Meet the Americans who are getting health screenings on vacation 

<ul><li><a href="https://uhi.abdm.gov.in/">UHI </a>is a network that can enable interoperability in health services.</li><li>Through <keyword id="1766345" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="uhi" source="Orion">UHI</keyword> enabled applications, patients can discover, book, conduct and pay for services via an application of their choice. </li><li>e-RUPI is a new fintech initiative for instant payment to healthcare service providers in the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana.</li></ul>Just like <keyword id="6358921" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="upi" source="Orion">UPI</keyword> revolutionized payment transactions in <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword>, Unified Health Interface or UHI will revolutionize digital health service delivery, said Dr R S <keyword id="445" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="sharma" source="Orion">Sharma</keyword>, CEO, <keyword id="7183605" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="national-health-authority" source="Orion">National Health Authority</keyword>, <keyword id="191419" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="ministry-of-health-and-family-welfare" source="Orion">Ministry of Health and Family Welfare</keyword> at IFTA 2022 held in Mumbai. A foundational layer of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) stack, <a href="https://uhi.abdm.gov.in/">UHI </a>is a network of open protocols that can enable interoperability in health services. Through UHI enabled applications, patients can discover, book, conduct and pay for services offered by a variety of participating providers via an app of their choice. “UHI facilitates the ease of doing business for health care service providers by granting them access to a large number of users, through the medium of a common platform. This paradigm shift in healthcare delivery also gives rise to a sea of opportunities for the emerging HealthTech ecosystem” said Dr Sharma. Some of the services that will be included in UHI are teleconsultation, lab booking and ambulance services. The healthcare system is also working on enabling payments via e-RUPI, as part of a fintech initiative for instant payment to healthcare service providers - under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, a government funded health insurance scheme. e-RUPI is a person and purpose specific digital instrument based on the architecture of UPI. It’s a one-time, cashless, contactless prepaid digital voucher which can be availed through an SMS or QR Code. It can be redeemed without a card, digital payments app, or internet banking access. “e-RUPI will have myriad use cases: to start with, health, nutrition, education and agriculture are just a few areas that are going to benefit from it. A number of states have already started using e-RUPI for various benefit delivery programmes in their states,” Dr Sharma added. It was launched by <keyword id="12394777" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="national-payments-corporation-of" source="Orion">National Payments Corporation of</keyword> India (NPCI) in August <a href="https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1743056">2021</a>. Dr Sharma believes that it is time that we innovate new products in the fintech industry which could be combined with healthtech for an affordable, scalable and accessible digital healthcare ecosystem. IFTA 2022 is a fintech event hosted by <keyword id="8249528" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="india-fintech-forum" source="Orion">India FinTech Forum</keyword>, an advocacy group. More than 2,750 fintech companies and over 30,000 individuals are members of this forum. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/urban-company-grants-shares-worth-rs-5-2-cr-to-497-gig-workers/articleshow/95828715.cms">Urban Company grants shares worth Rs 5.2 cr to 497 gig workers</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/international/news/indonesia-relaunches-multiple-entry-visa-that-was-deactivated-during-the-pandemic/articleshow/95828509.cms">Indonesia relaunches multiple entry visa that was deactivated during the pandemic</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/tips-to-make-whatsapp-more-private-and-secure/articleshow/95825054.cms">Tips to make Whatsapp more private and secure</a>

‘United Health Interface will do to service delivery what UPI did to payments’

India's government <keyword id="21309215" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="healthcare-spending" source="keywords">healthcare spending</keyword> appears to be on the rise, but a closer look reveals a concerning trend. While the headline figures might suggest an increase, the reality is a steady decline in health expenditure as a proportion of both the <keyword id="19936553" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="budget" source="keywords">budget</keyword> and GDP over the past five years (2018-19 to 2023-24). This decline is even starker when adjusted for inflation. In real terms, spending has barely kept pace since 2019-20. As a percentage of the total budget, health spending has shrunk from 2.4% in 2018-19 to just 1.9% in 2023-24. Similarly, the share of GDP allocated to health has fallen from 0.30% to 0.28%, as per a report from the Times of India. <h2>Growing expectations ahead of <keyword id="15478236" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="budget-2024" source="Orion">Budget 2024</keyword></h2>As the Finance Minister <keyword id="19916618" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="nirmala-sitharaman" source="keywords">Nirmala Sitharaman</keyword> prepares to present the full budget for the current fiscal on July 23, the expectations from the health sector has only been growing. “The Union Budget 2024-25 is a pivotal moment for India's healthcare sector. Building on the ₹64,180 crores allocated in 2023-24 under the Pradhan Mantri Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana, we need enhanced tax incentives and financial support for healthcare startups to catalyze innovation. Significant investments in <keyword id="21226679" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="digital-health-infrastructure" source="keywords">digital health infrastructure</keyword>, particularly AI, will improve patient outcomes and operational efficiency,” says Dr Sravani Reddy G, Founder &amp; CEO, Soprav Healthcare Consulting. “Strengthening public-private partnerships will improve healthcare accessibility and quality, leveraging private sector efficiency. Additionally, focused efforts on affordability and access, such as reducing out-of-pocket expenses and improving insurance coverage, are vital for a more equitable healthcare system.” “The healthcare sector in India is on the brink of excellence. There is an increased focus on treating unique patient cases, robotic surgeries, and increasing prominence of AI for accurate diagnosis. To reach the next phase, emphasis must be laid on innovation, research &amp; development, and infrastructure development. These are the foundations for India’s health sector to achieve an international standard of treatment for all,” hopes Joseph Pasangha, Group COO, SPARSH Hospital, Bengaluru. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="111730426" title="Pan-India rollout of U-WIN to track routine immunisations likely by Aug end" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> <h2>Health tax not helping enough </h2>This situation is further complicated by the introduction of the <keyword id="22446013" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="health-cess" source="keywords">health cess</keyword> in 2018. This tax levy was intended to boost government spending on healthcare, particularly for the underprivileged. However, the collected funds seem to be merely filling the gap created by cuts to regular budgetary allocations for health. In 2022-23, over Rs 18,300 crore of the central government's health spending came from the health cess. Excluding this amount, the actual budgetary allocation for health stands at a concerning Rs 59,840 crore. This is lower than the pre-pandemic level of Rs 66,042 crore allocated in 2019-20, even without adjusting for inflation. <h2>Where's the money going?</h2>The intended purpose of the health cess seems to be falling short. In 2018, health spending accounted for 2.4% of the government's total expenditure. If this ratio had remained constant in 2023-24, the health budget should have been over Rs 1.07 lakh crore. Instead, the revised expenditure, including the health cess, stands at just Rs 83,400 crore. Even the additional allocations for the COVID-19 pandemic (Rs 10,655 crore and Rs 15,955 crore in 2020-21 and 2021-22 respectively) cannot mask the overall decline. When combined with the regular health budget (excluding health cess), the total spending in these years still falls short of what it would have been if the 2.4% share of 2018-19 had been maintained. <h2>More for alternative medicine</h2>While the share allocated to Ayush (Ayurveda, Yoga &amp; Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy) has seen a significant increase, spending on crucial areas like health research has seen only marginal growth. Additionally, a major portion of research funding goes to the Indian Council of Medical Research, with only a temporary increase during the peak of the pandemic response. The most concerning decrease is in the allocation for health and family welfare, encompassing national programs, the National Health Mission, and health system strengthening. This critical area has seen a substantial decline in its share of both GDP and total budget expenditure, falling from a peak of over 2% in 2017-18 to a mere 1.7% in 2023-24. Excluding the health cess, this figure drops even further to 1.5%. <h2>What this means</h2>This decline in government health spending raises serious concerns about India's commitment to public healthcare, particularly for its most vulnerable populations. Increased investment in health is crucial for a growing nation like India, and a reversal of this downward trend is essential to ensure accessible and quality healthcare for all. The 2024 Interim Health Budget saw a boost in total healthcare expenditure from Rs. 79,221 crore to Rs. 90,171 crore. Experts have opined that The healthcare budget should encompass at least 2.5% of the total budget. But it remains to be seen how the exact picture will turn out to be on July 23. “The 2024-25 budget presents an opportunity to build on past successes while addressing shortcomings, ensuring that India's healthcare system remains resilient, innovative, and patient-centric. This budget can pave the way for a healthier, more equitable future for all," concludes Dr Reddy. (With inputs from TOI) <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="111689743" title="Union Budget 2024: A handy FAQ guide to decode the upcoming budget" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>

Despite pandemic and growing health scares, India’s budget share for healthcare continues to decline

For most of the 20th century, the word "family" in America evoked a predictable picture of cookie-cutter cleanliness: the happily married husband and wife, their 2.5 kids, and one improbably well-behaved golden retriever, all under the same roof. But the nuclear family has steadily eroded over the last 50 years.The first major death knell came with the 1973 oil crisis and the two-year recession that followed, which signaled the end of the West's postwar prosperity boom. Since then, the nuclear family has crumbled piece by piece. In 1970, more than two-thirds of American adults between 25 and 49 lived with a spouse and at least one kid. By 2021, only 37% of adults fit the bill, Pew Research found.Although it may be premature to declare <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/american-marriage-family-structure-kids-over-2023-9">the nuclear family officially over</a>, the model is beginning to look more like a fringe lifestyle choice than the bedrock of American society.The demise has sparked no shortage of (often <a target="_blank" href="https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/moynihan-report-resurrected-daniel-geary-black-power/">racist</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://time.com/5405100/murphy-brown-cultural-importance-reboot/">sexist</a>, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/104/hr3396">homophobic</a>) political backlash. From <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pronatalism-elon-musk-simone-malcolm-collins-underpopulation-breeding-tech-2022-11?r=musk-peel">Elon Musk</a>, the father of 11 kids, to the failed GOP presidential hopeful <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eRHH8qOl44">Vivek Ramaswamy</a>, defenders of so-called "traditional family values" decry the potential economic hazards of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/great-labor-shortage-looming-population-decline-disaster-global-economy-2022-10">plummeting birth rates</a> and the social disorder caused by unruly <a target="_blank" href="https://www.aei.org/op-eds/what-liberals-dont-understand-about-men-and-marriage/">men without wives to rein them in</a>. Some even argue that the nuclear family is the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cairn.info/revue-francaise-d-etudes-americaines-2003-3-page-7.htm">cornerstone of democracy</a> itself.<div type="image" title="Two young boys in shorts run to greet Dad coming home from work while Mother is standing in the background. Circa 1960" height="5100" width="4113" msid="108848948" hostid="261"></div>Others, meanwhile, have eagerly cheered on the shift away from the stifling gender politics of the four-person norm. Critics include radical family-abolition scholars such as M.E. O'Brien, whose 2023 book "Family Abolition: Capitalism and the Communizing of Care" argues that the contained family structures "cannot carry the immense burden of work placed on them." On the other end of the political spectrum, in an early 2020 cover story for The Atlantic, the conservative columnist David Brooks declared the nuclear family "a mistake." Since the onset of the pandemic, the looming cloud of skepticism hanging over the whole concept of the "<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-changed-typical-american-family-structure-2019-12">nuclear family</a>" has only thickened.Like it or hate it, the future of the family has never appeared so uncertain. For a society structured around the ideal of the nuclear family, its demise has left everyone wondering: What happens now?Like many other social norms, the nuclear family was the product of the economic and cultural conditions of a particular time and place, upheld by policies and institutions for decades. Until the 19th century, marriage was less the union of two souls in love than the pragmatic, obligatory step in a long tradition of social and family organization. Most Americans at that time lived in extended, multigenerational "corporate families" that worked together to run a family farm or a business.As the economy industrialized over the course of the 19th century, more young men and women left their family farms for jobs in factories and offices, usually in cities. Free from the watchful eyes of their parents and relatives, these young people began to go on dates, spending their discretionary income on outings to the local movie house or soda counter. In her 2016 book "Labor of Love: The Invention of Dating," Moira Weigel traced this shift. "By bringing courtship out of the home and into the marketplace, dating became a lucrative business," she wrote. "For the first time in human history, dating made it necessary to buy things in order to get face time with a prospective partner."As <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moving-dating-midwest-pandemic-transplants-california-coastal-attitude-2024-2">dating culture</a> became more entrenched in the economy during the 20th century, a community-based way of life gave way to individuals focusing on their own wants and needs. The middle class expanded and children were no longer expected to work for their family's economic survival; in white, middle-class families, men earned the wages that supported the family and their wives raised the children and ran the home. The nuclear family became a microcosm of capitalist self-sufficiency and the consumerism that came with it.It was also, in some respects, a fluke. As Brooks noted in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/03/the-nuclear-family-was-a-mistake/605536/">The Atlantic</a>, the nuclear family's status as the default household arrangement for American adults peaked during the relatively brief window between 1950 and 1965, when divorce rates plunged, fertility rates boomed, and the postwar economy flourished. It was during these years that "a kind of cult formed around this type of family," Brooks wrote, noting that those who broke the mold by opting out of marriage were <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/21/opinion/brooks-the-talent-society.html">often seen</a> as deviant or "neurotic."<div type="image" title="Tract homes in suburban development, homes, lawns, driveways and roads comprise a typical suburban neighborhood, circa 1967" height="3182" width="3980" msid="108848950" hostid="261"></div>The obsession with the nuclear family masked its underlying instability. By the 1970s, social inequality and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2018/08/07/for-most-us-workers-real-wages-have-barely-budged-for-decades/">wage stagnation</a> following the 1973 oil crisis and recession had made it impossible for many white, middle-income husbands to sustain entire broods on a single salary. More and more women entered the workforce, giving them greater economic autonomy and enabling some to leave unhappy marriages. After California legalized no-fault divorce in 1969, other states quickly followed. In turn, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-celebrities-are-getting-divorced-society-is-changing-2023-12">divorce rates soared</a>. (To this day, women initiate the overwhelming majority of divorces.)The nuclear family began to rapidly disintegrate. But it wasn't exactly the end of a golden era.As more people have formed families that diverged from the nuclear-family norm, the weaknesses of the structure have become glaring. The biggest fallout we see today is in the childcare crisis, where the self-reliance inherent to the nuclear-family model resulted in women bearing the burden of raising children. Although an overwhelming majority of women now work outside the home, they continue to shoulder the bulk of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/care-economy-unpaid-work-minimum-wage-jobs-labor-infrastructure-bofa-2021-5">unpaid caregiving</a> labor for children and aging relatives. They also end up doing more household chores — laundry, cleaning, and cooking are all <a target="_blank" href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/286739/working-moms-little-reprieve-household-demands.aspx">primarily done by women</a>.Without one partner focused on full-time housekeeping, the amount of work required to run a nuclear family isn't really feasible. "All families, without exception, are dependent on extensive outside support — whether that's state welfare programs, paid service people, or extended family members generously helping out," O'Brien, the family-abolition author, told me.The segmentation of families can also "isolate vulnerable individuals, enabling abuse," Stephanie Coontz, the author of "Marriage, a History," told me. And "some such families consciously foster suspicion of those outside the family circle."While this arrangement works nicely for the wealthiest "shareholders" in a capitalist economic system, it isn't a particularly enticing deal for most Americans, Kristen Ghodsee, an ethnographer at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of "Everyday Utopia: In Praise of Radical Alternatives to the Traditional Family Home," told me. "The declining birth rate in industrialized countries reflects the economic reality that children are a bad investment for families, and so many people are deciding not to have them," she said. Adjusting for future inflation, the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Brookings_Cost-to-raise-a-child_inflation-adjusted-2.pdf">Brookings Institution</a> estimated that it would cost $310,605 to raise a child born in 2015 through age 17 — about $43,000 more in today's dollars than what it cost in 1960 after adjusting for inflation. In a 2021 Pew survey of child-free adults under 50, 44% said they are unlikely to ever have children. When asked why, most responded that they simply don't want to. Nearly one in five said it was due to the cost.Ghodsee pointed out that while a smaller global population has its perks (the planet certainly isn't complaining), it poses a serious threat to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-parents-dinks-childfree-boomers-economy-outlook-population-growth-birthrate-2024-2">long-term economic growth</a>. "Shrinking GDPs in the future are a direct result of shrinking populations, and that will challenge the very foundations of American capitalism," she said. "This is one reason why conservatives are so keen to limit women's reproductive freedoms."It doesn't take much of a mental leap to see why capitalism and the nuclear family make for such cozy bedfellows. Atomized family units produce more market labor and buy greater quantities of stuff than sprawling, communal kin groups that can lean on each other to share resources and manpower. The nuclear family's guise of self-sufficiency only barely conceals its toxic codependence with the market economy. But that dynamic also makes the nuclear family particularly vulnerable to economic pressures.Over the years, people who departed from the nuclear norm stopped being seen as aberrations and became examples of the varied paths adulthood could take. Today, nearly <a target="_blank" href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/12/12/u-s-children-more-likely-than-children-in-other-countries-to-live-with-just-one-parent/">a quarter</a> of children in the US live in single-parent households, and a rising share of adults live <a target="_blank" href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2021/10/05/rising-share-of-u-s-adults-are-living-without-a-spouse-or-partner/">without a spouse or romantic partner</a>, either alone or with roommates. Where LGBTQ+ partnership was once <a target="_blank" href="https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/decriminalization-sodomy-united-states/2014-11">criminalized</a> across the country, same-sex unions are now sanctioned under federal law. As of 2020, even polyamorous families have gained legal protections in the <a target="_blank" href="https://19thnews.org/2023/04/somerville-massachusetts-legal-protections-polyamorous-families/">municipality</a> of Somerville, Massachusetts.Despite the growing diversity of household types, the nuclear family of the 1950s continues to shape the economics and institutions of American life. By and large, policies that inform tax systems, housing, healthcare, and social services are designed to provide the greatest benefit to married couples and their children. When my partner and I file our annual income taxes in the coming weeks, we'll enjoy a sizable tax break thanks to our decision to tie the knot last fall. And as a dependent on his employer-provided health-insurance plan, I'm able to make a living as a freelancer without worrying about healthcare coverage. But that narrow policy focus leaves an increasing numbers of Americans behind.Though it's unclear what the family of the future will look like, seeds of change are blowing in the breeze. Recent months have seen a deluge of <a target="_blank" href="https://nymag.com/press/2024/01/on-the-cover-of-new-york-a-practical-guide-to-polyamory.html">magazine trend pieces</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reddit.com/r/polyfamilies/">Reddit threads</a>, and newspaper headline <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/12/realestate/single-mother-households-co-living.html">portmanteaus</a> speculating about polyamorous families, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/platonic-parenting-non-romantic-partners-choose-raise-kids-together-2021-6">platonic coparenting</a>, and "<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/single-moms-mommune-mothers-coliving-together-2024-2">mommunes</a>" becoming the next big thing. Even the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-living-with-parents-save-money-housing-crisis-cost-2024-2">multigenerational household</a> is quietly coming back into vogue, thanks in large part to ongoing cost-of-living increases and families' caregiving needs.The pandemic seemed to accelerate a collective sense of urgency to come up with something better. "In order for families to function at all, they need lots and lots and lots of external supports," O'Brien said. "During COVID, as some of those external supports disappeared, that became dramatically and painfully obvious to huge numbers of people."The lockdowns of the early pandemic also foregrounded the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-america-hates-its-children-parenting-expensive-childcare-schools-kids-2024-1">social and relational pitfalls endemic to the nuclear family</a> — "the hot box of being around the same people all the time, the lack of feedback and broader social relationships, and the despair and depression that can go along with this type of social isolation, particularly for mothers of young children," O'Brien said.Ghodsee agreed that the pandemic invigorated people's desire for collectivism and community. Overwhelmed nuclear families reached out to one another for mutual support and formed "pandemic pods." Communities set up mutual-aid groups to share goods and deliver groceries to elderly and immunocompromised neighbors. In the face of urgent necessity, people began to imagine pathways toward a more expansive definition of family. Suddenly, everyone was talking about how to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/millennial-gen-z-parents-struggle-lonely-childcare-costs-money-friends-2023-11">recreate the "village</a>."<div type="image" title="A couple walks their daughter to class on the first day of kindergarten in West Covina." height="1457" width="2200" msid="108848954" hostid="261"></div>"A lot of people who lived alone and who used to think of having their own place as the ultimate symbol of personal autonomy and success became very lonely," Ghodsee said. "Things like co-living, co-housing, and intentional communities are now making a comeback." Two websites that match single adults for the purpose of platonically co-parenting children reported a 30% to 50% surge in traffic during the COVID lockdown, The Guardian <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/oct/31/i-wanted-to-meet-a-mate-and-have-a-baby-without-wasting-time-the-rise-of-platonic-co-parenting#:~:text=In%20a%20world%20where%20biological,remains%20a%20relatively%20new%20phenomenon.">reported</a>.Not everyone agrees that the grass is greener on the other side of the white picket fence. Coontz, a leading historian of the American family, notes that every family structure comes with its own set of distinct weaknesses, strengths, and possibilities. The extended families of yore guaranteed a measure of built-in support and community that was particularly beneficial for raising children. But the extended-family structure also made it "far easier for the older generation to control the younger ones," Coontz said, and tended to undermine the romantic couple relationships in their midst.No family model is perfectly resilient, equitable, or sustainable in a vacuum. "It's the larger social context that counts most for how any institution functions, and any decent social system needs to put protections in place to minimize the chance of abuse and give people options when the institution fails or abuses them," Coontz said.She remains unconvinced that rearranging the family structure will resolve its many ails. She also believes it unlikely that the typical American family will ever stray too far from the basic configuration of a romantic partnership and children. What she hopes for is "a society whose institutions and policies encourage personal security and trust beyond our families and friends — to make our lives better when we are in and when we are out of an intimate romantic relationship." This might include investments in "<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/loneliness-epidemic-decline-in-third-places-friends-parks-community-2023-9">third places</a>," such as public libraries and parks where community members can freely gather, or more radical overhauls such as the provision of a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/universal-basic-income-works-red-state-blue-state-2023-10">universal basic income</a>, which could reduce inequality and boost social cohesion.Rather than changing families to be more like society, this vision of the future imagines a society that's more like a big, supportive family.<a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/kelli-maria-korducki">Kelli María Korducki</a> is a journalist whose work focuses on work, tech, and culture. She's based in New York City.

Farewell &mdash; and good riddance &mdash; to the 'typical American family'

New Delhi, March 14 (IANS) In a significant development, India reported only 2,503 new cases in the last 24 hours, the lowest single-day spike in 680 days, the Union Health Ministry announced on Monday. In the same period, 27 people also succumbed to the virus, taking the overall death toll to 5,15,877. The number of active cases also further reduced to 36,168, the lowest in 675 days. These cases now account for 0.08 per cent of the country's total positive cases, the Ministry said. The recovery of 4,377 patients in the last 24 hours has increased the cumulative tally to 4,24,41,449. Consequently, India's recovery rate stands at 98.72 per cent. Also in the same period, a total of 5,32,232 tests were conducted across the country, which increased the total to 77.90 crore. There has been a sustained fall in the weekly and daily positivity rates as well, the Ministry said. Weekly Positivity Rate in the country currently stands at 0.47 per cent and the Daily Positivity rate is reported to be 0.47 per cent. India's Covid-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 180.19 crore as of Monday morning. This has been achieved through 2,10,99,040 sessions. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/interview-you-will-be-able-to-own-bajaj-made-yulu-bikes-by-next-year/articleshow/90172838.cms">You will be able to own Bajaj-made Yulu bikes by next year</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/paytms-shares-hit-an-all-time-low-plunging-below-the-700-mark-after-rbi-pulls-up-its-payments-bank/articleshow/90193957.cms">Paytm’s shares hit an all-time low plunging below the ₹700-mark after RBI pulls up its payments bank</a>

India records the lowest single-day COVID-19 tally in 680 days

<keyword id="6354321" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="bengaluru" source="Orion">Bengaluru</keyword>, March 14 (IANS) Karnataka recorded zero COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, marking the first time since June 5, 2020 that the state has registered no fatalities, according to the Department of Health and Family Welfare. The Department said that although the <keyword id="8764262" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="covid" source="Orion">Covid</keyword> case numbers decreased drastically, it took some time for the fatalities to reduce. During March, April, May and June of 2021 at the height of the second wave, Karnataka recorded three-digit deaths everyday. By January 2022, even as it was predicted that the Omicron variant will wreck havoc, the vaccination drive in the state had put the breaks on the fatality rate. Since the last nine days, the state recorded single-digit <keyword id="8784751" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Covid-deaths" source="Orion">Covid deaths</keyword>. So far, Karnataka has registered a total of 40,018 deaths since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020. Karnataka stands next to Maharashtra and Kerala in terms of Covid fatalities in the country. The highest number of deaths in the state are being reported from the capital Bengaluru (16,942). Mysuru comes in second with 2,557 deaths, followed by the Dakshina Kannada district bordering Kerala (1,838), while Yadgir has registered the lowest number at 212. The statistics released on Sunday evening stated that Karnataka logged 164 new Covid cases against 130 recoveries. The active cases in the state stood at 2,656. Bengaluru Urban recorded 112 Covid cases, while 14 districts did not report any. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/interview-you-will-be-able-to-own-bajaj-made-yulu-bikes-by-next-year/articleshow/90172838.cms">You will be able to own Bajaj-made Yulu bikes by next year</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/paytms-shares-hit-an-all-time-low-plunging-below-the-700-mark-after-rbi-pulls-up-its-payments-bank/articleshow/90193957.cms">Paytm’s shares hit an all-time low plunging below the ₹700-mark after RBI pulls up its payments bank</a>

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You Searched For "health and family welfare" and got 7 results

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Farewell and good riddance — to the 'typical American family'