HEALTH CARE

Health care in this region as well as across most of India is by and large unregulated. The majority of Vidarbha’s population is unable to afford health care. Farmers, who live on an average $2 per day are often faced with $20 bills for a routine health care procedure. They often have to mortgage their land and sell their cattle to cover their health care costs. After farming loans, health care is the second fastest growing component of rural family debt across the country. India spends less than one percent of its GDP on health care and close to 25 percent of the population do not seek medical care because they simply cannot afford it. The private medical sector is growing as public health services decline.