India and the United States of America are the two largest democracies in the world. For most of this 21st century, they have served as solid examples for others to follow. The same cannot be said for their delivery of healthcare. The World Health Organization (WHO) provided its first and only ranking of health systems in 2000. The US ranked 37 and India ranked 112 out of 191 countries.
The current coronavirus crisis, which the WHO declares has the potential of becoming a pandemic illustrates the need for a world-class health care system. Both India and the US have coronavirus cases. India has responded quickly by putting a systemic nation-wide plan in place to combat the virus. The US has responded very slowly as President Donald Trump has politicized the issue, dismissed its importance and even labeled it a "new hoax".
Although there have been distinctly different responses by the US and India to the coronavirus epidemic and there was a substantial distance between their rankings in both cited studies, there are differences and similarities in the healthcare delivery in these two democracies. More importantly, there are lessons that they can learn from each other to enhance the healthcare delivered to and health of their citizens.
There are many differences between India and the US healthcare systems. The primary ones include: the level of expenditure; the nature of healthcare support, and the nature of coverage. According to various reports, the US spends close to 18 per cent of its GDP on healthcare compared to less than just 4 per cent of GDP by India. The average expenditure per capita in the US more than $10,000 in the US and less than $100 in India.
This difference is huge. So, too is the nature of healthcare support. In the US there is broad and extensive quality support through both public and private facilities. In India, the private sector dominates quality healthcare delivery which restricts access for many middle class or poor citizens.
