Manipal, arogyacards, and Goa

There's an advertisement in The Hindu (once of my favourite newspapers) or April 22, 2005, which shows Sunil Kambli of Goa, with his son Sahil. He's quoted saying: "I never knew how Manipal ArogyaCard could be of help, until it helped when my son fell ill".

The efficacy of private, profit-oriented healthcare is another debate. Some hospitals are simply too costly, prescribe all kinds of superfluous treatment, while others are fairly efficient. That's beyond this debate.

What is the subject here is the way in which patients from Goa are today seen as a market for hospitals outside the state (mainly in coastal Karnataka, Belgaum, Bangalore or elsewhere). Once, not too long ago, Goa had a superior health care system, compared to its neighbouring outlying areas. We looked down condescendingly on patients who came *here* for treatment.

Now, the boot is on the other foot.

Firstly, we need to take note of the changing situation. Secondly, we need to ask: how did we fall back? Was it, in part at least, because our state opted to go in for a contractor-fuelled plan of having a (near-giant) new Goa Medical College, while they don't even have the funds to take care of basic usables in the health-care process?

Maybe someone with a better understanding could give us insights. FN