CHAPTER – 2 Role of the Government in Health | CLASS 7TH | NCERT CIVICS IMPORTANT QUESTIONS & MCQS | EDUGROWN

Answer: (d) All of these

Answer: (b) Water in coolers

Answer: (b) 21%

Answer: (d) Diarrhoea

Answer: (a) Private

Answer: (d) All of these

Answer: (a) Government

Answer: (c) Primary Health Centre

Answer: (a) Registered Medical Practitioners

Answer: (b) Medical stores

Answer: (b) 20%

Answer: (d) All of these

Answer: (d) 40%

Answer: (a) South America

Answer:

Answer: government

Answer: Costa Rica

Answer: taxes

Answer: 40

Question 1.
What do people expect from government in a democracy?
Answer:

• In a democracy people expect the government to work for their welfare.
• This is done through the provision of education, health, employment, housing, development of roads, electricity, etc.

What is Health?

Question 1.
What is health? Explain the factors that affect health.
Answer:
Health:

• Health means our ability to remain free of (from) illness and injuries,.
• Health is not only about disease. It is also associated with other factors.
• Apart from disease we need to think of other factors that affect our health.
• There are other factors that influence our health.
• If people get clean drinking water or a pollution free environment they are likely to be healthy.
• Conversely if people do not get adequate food to eat or have to live in dirty conditions they will become victims to illnesses.
• All of us always like to be active and in good spirits.
• It is not healthy to be dull, inactive, anxious or scared for long stretches of time. We all need to be free from mental strain.

Healthcare in India

Question 1.
What are the improvements in healthcare facilities in India?
Answer:
There are many developments like:

• Largest number of medical colleges in the world.
• Approximately 15,000 new doctors every year.
• About 18,218 hospitals by year 2000.
• Extension of medical tourism due to low cost of treatments.
• Fourth largest producer of medicines.

Question 2.
Write some of the negative aspects of our healthcare system.
Answer:
The following are some of the drawbacks of our healthcare:

• Most doctors settle in urban areas, less doctors in rural areas.
• Two million cases of malaria and five lakh cases of tuberculosis every year.
• Water borne communicable diseases like diarrhoea, hepatitis on the rise. About 21% has no access to clean water.
• Half of all children are mal-nourished.
• Private health on rise and Public health care system has not grown as per the need.

Question 3.
What do we need to prevent and treat diseases?
Answer:

• In order to prevent and treat illnesses we need appropriate healthcare facilities.
• They are health centres, hospitals, laboratories for testing, ambulance services, blood banks, etc.
• They can provide the required care and services that patients need.
• In order to run these facilities we need health workers, nurses, qualified doctors and other health professionals who can advise, diagnose and treat illnesses.
• We also need medicines and equipments that are necessary for treating patients.

Question 4.
Give an account of the position of healthcare services in India.
Answer:
Healthcare Services in India:

• India has a large number of doctors, clinics and hospitals.
• It also has considerable experience and knowledge, in running a public healthcare system. This system of hospitals and health centres is run by the government.
• It has the ability to look after the health of a large section of its population scattered over lakhs of villages.
• There has been a phenomenal improvement in medical sciences with many new technologies and treatment procedures. [Refer to data on Page 20 NCERT column one.]

Question 5.
How can we say that health situation in India is very poor?
Answer:

• It is said that health situation in our country is very poor.
• We are not able to provide proper healthcare facilities to people.
• Our country has the money, knowledge and people with experience but cannot make the necessary healthcare available to all because of certain short-comings on our part.

The Cost of a Cure

Question 1.
What is the story board about?
Answer:
This story board is about Aman a child of poor parents and Ranjan belonging to a well to do family. Both suffered from viral fever and got treated at different places.

Question 2.
What was Ranjan’s experience of his treatment?
Answer:
Ranjan was taken to a big private hospital. It had best of the facilities. His father had to pay? 500/ to meet the doctor. He further prescribed some tests. The tests were done in a friendly atmosphere and results were given quickly.
Doctors went through the results which were all fine. He prescribed a lot of medicines for viral fever and rest. The whole thing cost more than? 3500.

Question 3.
Where was Aman taken for his treatment?
Answer:
Aman was taken to a government hospital where his father stood in a queue for a long time. The doctor upon examining him prescribed some tests. They again stood in line to get tests done. The reports came after three days.
They again went to the doctor who prescribed just one fever reducing medicine. The entire cost was only? 150.

Public and Private Health Care Services

Question 1.
What are the two categories of healthcare services?
Answer:
There are two broad categories of healthcare services.

1. Public health services.
2. Private health facilities.

Public Health Services

Question 1.
Explain the main features of Public Health Services.
Answer:
Main features of Public Health Services:

• Public Health Service is a chain of health centres and hospitals run by the government.
• They are linked together to cover both rural and urban areas.

They provide treatment to all kinds of problems from common illnesses to special services.

• At the village level there are health centres.
• It usually has a nurse and a village health worker.
• They are trained in dealing with common illnesses.
• They work under the supervision of doctors at the Primary Healthcare (PHC).
• This centre covers many villages in a rural area.
• At the district level is the District Hospital.
• It supervises all the health centres.
• Large cities have many government hospitals like the one where Aman was taken and also specialised government hospitals like the ones in Hakim Sheik’s story.

Question 2.
What are the reasons for the health services to be called public?
Answer:
The health service is called ‘public’ for many reasons.

• They fulfil their commitment of providing healthcare to all citizens.
  The government has established these hospitals and health centres.
• The resources needed to run these services are obtained from the money that we the public pay to the government as taxes.
• These services are meant for everyone.
• One of the most important aspects of the public health system is quality healthcare services either free or at a low cost.
• Even the poor can seek treatment there.
• Another important function of public health is to take action to prevent the spread of diseases like TB, malaria, jaundice, cholera, diarrhoea, chikengunya, etc.
• These services are organised by the government with the participation of

Question 3.
What kind of campaigns are organised by the government?
Answer:
Governments organises awareness campaigns with people participation. For example mosquitoes should not be allowed to breed in coolers, rooftops etc.

Question 4.
What did the Court say in the case of Hakim Sheik?
Answer:

• According to Indian Constitution, it is the primary duty of the government to ensure the welfare of the people.
• It also lays emphasis to provide healthcare facilities to all.
• The government must safeguard the right to life of every person.
• The Court said that the difficulty that Hakim Sheik had to face could have cost him his life.
  If a hospital cannot provide timely medical treatment to a person it means that
• The Court also said that it was the duty of the government to provide the necessary health services with treatment in emergency situations.
• Hospitals and medical staff must fulfil their duty of providing the necessary treatment.
• Hakim Sheik was denied treatment at various government hospitals.
• Therefore, the Court asked the State Government to give him the money that he had spent on his treatment.

Private Health Facilities

Question 1.
Explain the major features of private health services.
Answer:
Problems faced by Aman

• Non-availability of doctors.
• Junked and non-operational equipments.
• Non-availability of medicines.
• Crowded.
• Indifference of doctors etc.
• Proper and strict administration can get the hospitals work in better manner.

Question 2.
What are private health facilities?
Answer:
Private Health facilities are not owned to controlled by the government. There patients have to pay for every service they use.
Now we have more of private facilities. These may be run by large companies that manufacture or sell medicines.

Healthcare and Equality: Is Adequate Healthcare Available to All?
Question 1.
Is adequate healthcare available to all of us? Explain.
Answer:
Adequate healthcare is not available to all.

• Private facilities are increasing but the Public services are not.
• Private services are concentrated in urban areas and are costly.
• Poor have to go to Public services which are crowded. They have to borrow money in case of an illness in the family.
• Sometime wrong practices are encouraged to earn more money—like prescribing unnecessary medicines or tests.
• Only about 20% can afford all the medicines required and more than 40% have to borrow money.
• In case of women and tribal areas the health concerns are ignored.

Question 2.
‘Medical expenses cause hardship for all’. Explain the statement.
Answer:
Private healthcare is more widespread than public healthcare.

• Private healthcare run for profit. They prescribe costly tests medicines etc.
• Doctors prescribe unnecessary injections, saline bottles instead of cheaper methods like tablets.
• Even those who might not be poor are unable to afford the treatment.
• About 40% of all admitted patients have to borrow money to pay for medical expenses.

Question 3.
How is illness in a poor family a cause of great anxiety and distress?
Answer:

• To the poor every illness in the family is a cause of great anxiety and distress.
• In poor families this situation tends to happen again and again. The poor are generally undernourished.
• These families are not eating as much as they should. They are not provided basic necessities like drinking water, adequate housing, clean surroundings, etc. Hence, they are more likely to fall ill.
• The expenses on illness make their condition even worse.
• Sometimes money is not the problem for getting proper medical treatment.
• Women are not taken to a doctor in a prompt manner.
• Their health concerns are considered to be less important than the health of men in the family.
• Many tribal areas have few health centres and they do not run properly. Even private health services are not available to the tribals.

What can be Done?

Question 1.
What can be done to remove inequality in healthcare services?
Answer:

• Health condition of the people in our country is not good as they do not have equal access to health services.
• It is the responsibility of the government to provide quality healthcare services to all its citizens, especially the poor and the disadvantaged.
• Health is dependent on basic amenities and social conditions of the people. Hence, it is important to improve the health conditions of our people. And this can be done.

The Kerala Experience

Question 1.
Give an account of the Kerala experience about healthcare services.
Answer:
The Kerala Experience

• In 1996, the Kerala government made some major changes in the state.
• 40 per cent of the entire state budget was given to Panchayats. They plan and provide for their requirements. This is made possible for a village to make proper planning for water, food, women’s development and education.
• As a result, water supply schemes were checked, the working of schools and anganwadis was ensured and specific problems of the villages were taken up.
• Health centres were also improved.
• All of this helped to improve the situation.
• Despite these efforts, some problems like shortages of medicines, insufficient hospital beds, dearth of doctor remained and these need to be addressed.

The Costa Rican Approach

Question 1.
Discuss the Costa Rican Approach about Health.
Answer:
Costa Rican Approach about Health

• Costa Rica is one of the healthiest countries in South America.
• The main reason for this is found in the Costa Rican Constitution.
• Costa Rica took a very important decision not to have an army.
• This helped the Costa Rican government to spend the additional money on health, education and other basic needs of the people.
• The Costa Rican government believes that a country has to be healthy for its development.
• It plays a lot of attention to the health of its people.

The Costa Rican government provides basic services and amenities to all its people.

• It provides safe drinking water, sanitation, nutrition and housing.
• Health education is also considered very important.
• Knowledge about health is an essential part of education at all levels.