Health care, or healthcare, is the prevention, treatment, and management of illness and the preservation of health through services offered by the medical, dental, nursing, and allied health professions. Health care embraces all the goods and services designed to promote health, including “preventive, curative and palliative interventions, whether directed to individuals or to populations”. The organised provision of such services may constitute a health care system. This can include specific governmental organizations such as, in the UK, the National Health Service or a cooperation across the National Health Service and Social Services as in Shared Care. Before the term health care became popular, English-speakers referred to medicine or to the health sector and spoke of the treatment and prevention of illness and disease.
In most developed countries and many developing countries health care is provided to everyone regardless of their ability to pay. The National Health Service, established in 1948 by Clement Atlee's Labour government in the United Kingdom, was the world's first universal health care system provided by government and paid for from general taxation. Alternatively, compulsory government funded health insurance with nominal fees can be provided, as in Italy. Other examples are Medicare in Australia, established in the 1970s by the Labor government, and by the same name Medicare was established in Canada between 1966 and 1984. Universal health care contrasts to the systems like health care in the United States or South Africa, though South Africa is one of the many countries attempting health care reform.The United States is the only wealthy, industrialized nation that does not provide universal health care.Medical Advice to Persons Visiting India
India is a tropical country and many foreigners are not used to its environment. You may have already heard about heat, dust, rain, poverty, pollution, etc., and wondered about your capacity to cope with all that. Paying attention to the facts relevant to south India (India is a big country), and recounting the experiences of our past foreign visitors, we offer the following information.
Immunisations
- Malaria: It is spread by Anopheles mosquito bites. Prescription antimalerial drugs are easily available. They would have to be taken every week, from 1 week before your travel to India till 4 weeks after. Mosquito repellants are easily available and widely used in India. Odomos is a popular cream, and hotels provide electrical gadgets with mosquito repellant mats.
- Diarrhea and upset stomach: Keep some over-the-counter medicines handy, like Pepto-Bismol and Zantac (anti-acid). They can take care of most troubles.
- Typhoid: This is a water-borne bacterial disease. Vaccines (in the form of injections or capsules) are available, which should be taken at least 2 weeks before travel.
- Hepatitis-A: This is a viral disease affecting liver function, transmitted by contaminated food and water. Safe and effective vaccines are available (HAVRIX from SmithKline Beecham or VAQTA from Merck & Co.). The vaccines require two doses, the second one 6-12 months after the first. Travelers are considered protected 1 month after the first dose. Instead of the vaccine, a single dose of immune globuline (IG) is also a possibility, for travels less than 3 months.
Above medical advice is in agreement with the two most refered sources, CDC and WHO. Their web links to health information for travellers to the Indian subcontinent are
Please note that these sites also list additional immunisations, which in our opinion are global and not India-specific (e.g. tetanus and hepatitis-B). You may consider them, but we do not think that you will need them just for your trip to India. Please consult your doctor to get the advice that will give you satisfaction. If you carry prescription drugs with you, you should also find out about the side effects of the drugs, e.g. peculiar taste in mouth or reduced alertness are more often caused by taking too many medicines than by contracting a disease. Contraindications of drugs for pregnant women and small children should never be ignored.
Food and water
Foreigners sometimes have trouble with Indian food and water. Good Indian hotels have learnt over the years to offer a safe and varied fare to suit different palates. We list some simple precautions which usually allow even the most sensitive stomachs to survive in India without problems for weeks.
It is always advisable to eat warm food in a clean environment. Indian food is very diverse, and different from what most foreigners are familiar with even after eating in Indian restaurants abroad. It is tasty, spicy, rich, and people tend to overeat. As a result, an upset stomach is more often a case of the digestive system being unable to handle unusual food, than a case of food poisoning. You will have to decide not only what to eat, but also how much to eat.
Thick skinned fruits (e.g. bananas and oranges) are safe to eat anywhere. Seafood, away from coastal cities, is not always fresh, and should be always eaten in moderation.
Bottled water available in the shops is essentially safe drinking water, even if it carries a mineral water label. There are many brands, Bisleri is a popular one. You should always make sure that the seal on the cap is intact. Tender coconut water available on the streetside is safe, provided you carry around clean straws, and is cheaper than the bottled water available in the shops.
