ZHL Rajasthan - Women are backbone of society, yet keep on having more unfortunate health results
                     ZHL Rajasthan - Women are backbone of society, 
yet keep on having more unfortunate health 
results
Access to quality healthcare is one of the primary 
necessities that every individual is entitled to. However, 
when we compare men and women and their access to 
healthcare, we witness a gap; a gap that has rendered 
women marginalised. Ziqitza, a leading healthcare 
organisation believes that every individual has equal 
right to access for healthcare, however, women in India 
fallback and faces discrimination. Ziqitza Healthcare, 
builds its argument based on an assessment done by 
the All India Institute of Medical Sciences that examined 
the records of 2,377,028 patients that visited AIIMS 
between January 2016 to December 2016, only 37 
percent women received access to healthcare, as 
compared to a glorious 67 percent of men.
Ziqitza Healthcare Ltd opines that since times immemorial 
men have had access to healthcare more and this has been 
majorly due to gender stereotypes and gender norms 
prevalent and widely practised in our society.  And precisely 
when we thought that nothing more could go more wrong 
for women, the COVID-19 pandemic reversed the few gains 
that were made towards reducing gender inequality within 
the country. The pandemic absolutely ripped apart the 
socio-economic fabric of the country and widened the 
already existing biases, gender norms, and inequalities. 
Ziqitza Rajasthan supports that the Covid-19 pandemic 
outbreak took India by storm and exposed the 
vulnerabilities of its healthcare systems and intensified 
them during the face of the emergency.
While the situation of women in urban 
areas is commendable, women in rural 
areas face acute discrimination when it 
comes to accessing healthcare. Although 
rural areas face challenges in terms of lack 
of adequate healthcare infrastructure, 
Ziqitza Limited, believes that fixing 
infrastructure cannot be the solution to 
gender disparity in healthcare. We as a 
nation must address the barriers that 
prevent women from accessing 
healthcare.
India’s sex ratio is low, especially in the states like Haryana, Uttar 
Pradesh, Bihar and in Rajasthan. ZHL Rajasthan, points out that even 
if a girl is born, the neonatal mortality rate of a girl child is greater in 
comparison to that of a boy child. The reason behind it being the lack 
of care and lack of nutrition provided to the girl child.
Over the years the Indian government has over introduced many 
policies and schemes centred around prioritising and promoting 
healthcare for women, however their implementation needs to be 
bolstered. Ziqitza Limited Rajasthan believes that apart from 
building infrastructure for healthcare, India must also work towards 
cascading a behavioural shift in the way women’s health is 
perceived. Taking cognisance of the situation and the crisis, the 
government of India has proposed an outlay of INR 2,23,846 Crore 
for health and well-being, a 137 % increase from the previous year. 
The government as part of the newly announced PM Atma Nirbhar 
Swasth Bharat Yojana has also outlayed INR 64,180 Crore to be 
invested over a period of six years to improve primary, secondary 
and tertiary healthcare. The aforementioned is exclusive of the 
goals and objectives of the National Health Mission. The National 
Health Mission has its own targets and goals to achieve. Ziqitza 
hopes that the regulatory improvements and restructuring will 
improve the health outcomes of the country.
Ziqitza Health care limited urges that the government must create a 
favourable policy environment and encourage public private 
partnerships (PPPs) for building health infrastructures and work 
towards creating awareness about women’s health within the 
country.
The PPP model can be leveraged to implement 
programmes that aim to create awareness about how 
gender inequality hinders women’s access to healthcare. 
Policies and programmes must be designed that can 
overcome the deep rooted socio-cultural practices and 
promote healthcare for all - not just men, but women as 
well.  
 
Women are the anchors of any society and contribution 
cannot be overlooked or undermined. India as a nation 
must look at devising a holistic and comprehensive 
regulation that can address all factors - social, cultural, 
political, and economical, that act as barriers in women’s 
access to quality healthcare.