India is the second most populous country in the world, with almost a fifth of the world's population living here. It's changing sociopolitical, demographic, and morbidity patterns have recently attracted global attention.Â
Despite various pro-growth government policies, increasing economic, regional, and gender disparities pose challenges to the healthcare sector. According to a United Nations report, about 75% of healthcare infrastructure, medical staff, and other health resources are concentrated only in urban areas, where 27% of the population lives, leaving the poorest in rural areas with various ambulances. Regarding problems of access barriers such as ambulance service.
The health of rural India remains a significant concern. In rural areas, people need an ambulance to go to the city hospital for better medical care in different segments. Since it is a long distance (100 to 200 km) to reach the advanced hospital in big cities to get proper treatment, the simple Ambulance to the emergency medical service with paramedics must be within reach of the rural people.
Ideally, everyone should be able to conveniently and securely access primary care, dental care, behavioral medicine, emergency care, and public health services.
UN report reveals access to HealthcareHealthcare is critical for:
Overall physical, social, and mental health
Prevention of diseases
Detection and treatment of diseases
Quality of life
Avoidable death
Life expectancy
Considering the current scenario, HealthcareHealthcare in rural India faces a crisis unmatched in any other social sector. Rural residents conduct nearly 86% of all medical visits to urban hospitals in India, and the majority still travel more than 100 km to access healthcare facilities. 70-80% of these costs are paid out of pocket, which drives them into poverty in most cases.
Healthcare services challenges in urban:
This lack of access to HealthcareHealthcare affects population health and the well-being of patients in the long term because patients who have to travel long distances for specialized treatment may choose to delay or forego specialist treatment due to cost burdens and long travel times.
These unmet health care needs can include preventive and early detection services, proper treatment of diseases, etc., that can have long-term consequences or even be fatal. Health literacy affects the ability to understand patients. Health information and instructions from a healthcare provider to the patient are unmet needs. That is also a significant barrier to access.
Health care in rural communities with lower levels of education and higher poverty rates often affects the population. Although the existing infrastructure is in place, health care in rural India is on track. Still, the quality and quantity of support available to primary health care organizations are far below what the World Health Organization defines as acceptable.
High-Quality Healthcare facilities can be available in rural areas by focusing on upskilling and capacity-building existing health facilities in rural areas. The gap in access to health services between rural and urban areas is worrying. We can only dream of a healthy India when rural health is taken care of.
India spends a meager 1.2% of its GDP on Healthcare. In comparison, almost 21% of the US GDP is spent on HealthcareHealthcare alone. There is an urgent need to address the challenges of the unavailability of quality health services in remote rural areas. There is an immediate need to transform the current healthcare system into a responsible, accessible, affordable quality service system.
The government administers many programs and policies to promote a healthy infrastructure that provides access to medical facilities for all people. However, there is still a gap regarding procedures and new practices preventing modern healthcare practices from reaching rural India.
Rural Healthcare finds itself in such Chaos because there are no doctors or their families who can live in rural areas with absolutely zero social infrastructures.
Also, doctors in rural areas have little or no access to continuing education (CME).
New Resources for rural areas to provide HealthcareHealthcare:
Since people in rural areas do not have sufficient resources to travel long distances and seek medical care from urban areas, the healthcare sector is now using telemedicine solutions to expand the range of its services to this population.
Telemedicine improves access to rural patients and allows doctors and health centers to extend their reach beyond their offices. The fantastic advances in information and communication technologies (ICT), particularly web-based technologies, have opened up exciting new opportunities for HealthcareHealthcare worldwide. These developments have significantly improved access to health care in remote and rural areas.
Current status of Ambulance in rural:
In urban and rural areas, India faces an  Emergency Medical Services (EMS) shortage. The ratio of ambulances to people in India is currently 3:1000.
Ambulance service in Delhi outsourcing practice in India is growing. This sector has a bright future as the outsourcing model benefits any industry. Most companies require dedicated ambulances stationed at their workplaces to provide immediate medical assistance to their employees in an emergency. Industrial sectors are also looking for EMS professionals. A hospital's core competency is treatment, and it makes sense for you to outsource your patient transfer service to an expert in the field. With the advent of Ambulances, this industry is poised for tremendous growth.
Trauma transport is an integral part of Healthcare.
Ambulance transport for pregnant women, children, and emergency medical personnel remains a challenge in India even after 50 years of public health care. The transport component is known to help accelerate the achievement of several Millennium Development Goals, including those related to reducing maternal and child mortality. In this regard, India's National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) funded a nationwide initiative to support rural emergency services: the Dial 108 Service. That was largely taken over by a non-profit organization, the Emergency Medical Research Institute (EMRI), which started 108 services from scratch.
With the exponential growth of Healthcare in general, hospitals in India are feeling pressure to focus on their core competency, managing their hospital, giving priority to patients, and offering excellent treatments. Therefore, hospitals work with EMS professionals to ensure effective patient transfers.
Studies and reports suggest that ambulances are still unavailable even after the healthcare revolution, and treatment in villages and rural areas is out of reach.
The real challenge for the country is achieving 100% quality medical care.