At the time of Independence in 1947, health care services in India were utterly inadequate, urban-based and curative in nature. Majority of the population, especially the poor and those residing in rural areas, did not have access to modern health facilities. Consequently, the morbidity and mortality rates were quite high. Many women died while seeking abortion to get rid of unwanted pregnancy because access to contraceptives for preventing pregnancies was not available. Similarly, antenatal and postnatal care and services were poor and out of reach for majority of women and their families. Improvement in the health status of the population has been one of the major thrust areas in social development programmes of India since Independence. Over the past six decades, India has built up a vast health infrastructure and manpower at primary, secondary and tertiary care levels in the government, voluntary and private sectors manned by professionals and para-medicals. India has invested massive amounts under the successive Five Year Plans in medical education, training and research which has ensured large manpower from the super-specialists to the auxiliary midwives. Considerable achievements have been made to improve health standards such as increase in life expectancy, decrease in infant and maternal mortality, and eradication of small pox and guinea worm. Nevertheless, problems abound. Malnutrition affects a large proportion of the population especially women and children. An unacceptably high proportion of the population continues to suffer and die from new diseases apart from the existing ones. Pregnancy and childbirth related complications also contribute to the suffering and mortality of women.

    This book provides a comprehensive introduction on current status of health and health-related services in India. It explains the procedures, objectives, achievements and failures of India`s Five Year Plans. More importantly, it contains Plan-wise documentation of objectives, policies, programmes and achievements in the areas of public health, family planning and welfare, nutrition, sanitation, safe drinking water, clean environment, control of diseases, indigenous systems of medicine, medical education, training and research and other matters pertaining to health. It also includes health-related statistics of India

1. Health Status of India: An Introduction - Health Care in Indian Constitution; World Health Assembly, 1977; Health Indices of India and Selected Asian Countries; Trends in Health Care in India; Health Indices in Rural and Urban India; Primary Health Care; Secondary and Tertiary Health Care; Health Care of Vulnerable Groups; Incidence of Major Diseases in India; Major Public Health Programmes in India; Shortcomings of the Public Health System; National Health Policy (NHP), 2002; Time-bound Goals of the Eleventh Five Year Plan; National Urban Health Mission (NUHM); National Rural Health Mission (NRHM); Sarva Swasthya Abhiyan (SSA); Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY); Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH); Growth of Private Sector in Health Care; Health Insurance; Health Education; Medical Value Travel in India; Indian Medical Professionals in Foreign Countries; Issues in Healthcare Sector; Family Planning and Welfare; Food and Nutrition; Drinking Water, Sanitation and Clean Living Conditions; Towards e-Health; Conclusion.

2. India`s Five Year Plans: An Overview - Establishment of the Planning Commission; Establishment of National Development Council (NDC); Transfer of Resources through the Planning Commission; Centrally Sponsored Schemes; Size and Pattern of Central Transfers; Objectives of Economic Planning in India; Financing of the Plan; Achievements of Economic Planning; Failures of Economic Planning; Conclusion.

First Five Year Plan: 1951-52 to 1955-56 - State of Public Health; Causes of Low State of Health ? Plan Priorities; Organisation and Administration; Medical and Public Health Programmes; Safe Drinking Water Supply; Nutritional Support; Malaria Control ? Tuberculosis Prevention; Venereal Diseases; Leprosy; Cancer; Mental Diseases; Maternity and Child Health; Health Education; Medical Education, Medical Research and Medical Relief; Indigenous Systems of Medicine; Drugs and Medical Requisites; Vital Statistics; Family Planning.

Second Five Year Plan: 1956-57 to 1960-61 - Hospital Services; Health Units; Medical Education; Dental Education and Dental Services; Nursing and Other Training Programmes; Medical Research; Indigenous Systems of Medicine; Control of Communicable Diseases; Water Supply and Sanitation; Nutrition; Maternal and Child Health; Family Planning; Health Education.

Third Five Year Plan: 1961-62 to 1965-66 - Health Services; Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation; Rural Water Supply; Urban Water Supply; Primary Health Units, Hospitals and Dispensaries; Control of Communicable Diseases; Medical Education and Research; Training of Ancillary Personnel; Health Education; Health Insurance; School Health; Maternal and Child Health; Mental Health; Vital Statistics; Drugs; Food Adulteration; Indigenous System of Medicine; Nutrition; Planning for the Future; Family Planning.

Annual Plan: 1966-67 - Health Priorities; Family Planning.

Annual Plan: 1967-68 - Review of Progress in 1966-67; Medical Education, Training and Research; Medical Care; Indigenous Systems of Medicine; Family Planning.

Annual Plan: 1968-69 - Health; Family Planning.

Fourth Five Year Plan: 1969-70 to 1973-74 - Health; Family Planning.

Fifth Five Year Plan: 1974-75 to 1978-79 - Health Schemes; Family Welfare Programmes; Nutrition .

Sixth Five Year Plan: 1980-81 to 1984-85 - Review of Health Services; Policies and Strategies of Health Care Programme; Rural Health Programme; Control of Communicable Diseases; Hospitals and Dispensaries; Medical Education; Medical Research; Traditional Systems of Medicine and Homoeopathy; Drug Control and Prevention of Food Adulteration; Health Education; Family Planning; Nutrition Programme.

Seventh Five Year Plan: 1985-86 to 1989-90 - Health and Education; Water Supply and Sanitation; Review of Health Programmes in the Sixth Plan; Seventh Plan: Objectives, Goals and Strategy; Programme Thrusts in the Seventh Five Year Plan ? Control of Communicable Diseases; Control of Non-communicable Diseases; Blood Bank and Transfusion Services; Medical Education; Training and Manpower Development; Medical and Health Services Research; Indian Systems of Medicine and Homoeopathy; Drug Control and Organization of Medical Stores; Prevention of Food Adulteration; Health Education, Information and Communication; Family Welfare; Seventh Plan Programmes and Perspective; Maternal and Child Health (MCH) in the Seventh Plan; Expended Programme of Immunisation (EPI).

Eighth Five Year Plan: 1992-93 to 1996-97 - Health for All; Health and Family Welfare; Programme Thrusts in the Eighth Plan; Malaria Eradication; Kala-azar and Japanese Encephalitis; Leprosy Eradication; Tuberculosis Control; Blindness Control Programme; Guinea Worm Eradication; AIDS Control Programme; Diarrhoeal Disease; Cancer Control; Iodine Deficiency Disorder; Diabetes Control; Mental Health Services; Medical Research; Indian Systems of Medicine and Homoeopathy; Family Welfare Programme; Strategy for the Eighth Plan.

Ninth Five Year Plan: 1997-98 to 2001-02 - Health Services; Approach during the Ninth Plan; Health Care Infrastructure; Para-medical Personnel; Physicians in Primary Health Care (PHC); Specialists at Community Health Centres (CHCs); Tribal Health; Rural Primary Health Care; Urban Health and Family Welfare Services; Secondary Health Care; Tertiary Health Care; Health Insurance; Development of Human Resources for Health; Universities of Health Sciences; Health Manpower Planning and Production; Bio-informatics, Telematics and Distance Education; Health Manpower Information System; Quality of Education in Health Sciences; Control of Communicable Diseases; New Initiatives during the Ninth Plan; Malaria Eradication Programme (MEP); Kala-azar, Flariasis, Dengue, Japanese Encephalitis; Tuberculosis Control Programme (TCP); Leprosy Eradication Programme (LEP); AIDS Control Programme; Blindness Control Programme; Cancer Control Programme; Diabetes Control Programme; Mental Health Programme; Iodine Deficiency Disorder Control Programme; Integrated Non-Communicable Disease Control Programme; Environment and Health; Occupational Health; Accident and Trauma Services; Production and Quality Control of Drugs; Bio-Medical and Health Services Research; Family Welfare; National Anaemia Prophylaxis Programme; National Prophylaxis Programme against Nutritional Blindness; Child Survival Programme.

Mid-Term Appraisal of the Tenth Five Year Plan - Health, Family Welfare and Nutrition; Recommendations on Health Expenditure; Monitorable Tenth Plan Targets; Reduction in MMR to 1 Per 1000 Live Births by 2012; Reduction in IMR to 28 Per 1000 Births by 2012; National Disease Control Programmes; Nutrition; New Initiatives in the Tenth Plan; Primary Health Care ? Shortages of Doctors, Hospital Beds and Medical Colleges; Collaboration for Research and Development; Recommendations of the Mid-Term Appraisal; National Rural Health Mission; National Mission on Sanitation and Public Health; Insurance at Primary Health Care Levels; Maternity Health Insurance Scheme (MHIS) ? Community Risk Pooling during Illness; Insurance at Secondary Health Care Levels; Public Private Partnerships in Health Care; Public Health Development Authority (PHDA).

Eleventh Five Year Plan: 2007-08 to 2011-12 - Vision for Health; Time Bound Goals for the Eleventh Five Year Plan; Current Scenario, Concerns and Challenges; Communicable Diseases; Health Care Infrastructure and Human Resources; Drawbacks of the Public Health System; Growth of Private Sector, Health Care Utilization and Cost; Review of Tenth Plan Schemes; National Rural Health Mission (NRHM); Janani Suraksha Yojana; National Urban Health Mission (NUHM); Primary Health Care; Secondary and Tertiary Health Care ? Access to Essential Drugs and Medicines; Decentralised Governance; Affecting Convergence; Enhancing Public-Private Partnership; Health Insurance: Protecting the Poor; Community-based Health Insurance (CBHI); Health Insurance for Unorganised Sector; Maternity Health Insurance; Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS).

    Dr. Rameshwari Pandya did her B.Sc. and B.Ed. from Lady Irwin College, University of Delhi and secured her M.Sc., M.Ed. and Ph.D. degrees from the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara, Gujarat. She is the recipient of Shrimati Leela Ben Shah Gold Medal for her academic excellence. She is a senior faculty member in the Faculty of Family and Community Sciences at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. She is in-charge of Pragati, the urban extension wing of the Faculty. She is a member of the Board of Studies, the Senate, and Syndicate of the University. Dr. Pandya has published 10 books and 100 research papers in professional journals of repute. She has successfully completed several projects including one major project titled Promotion of Communal Harmony funded by Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), New Delhi. She has attended and organized a number of workshops, seminars, conferences and short-term courses at the state, national and international levels.