Comparative Analysis of Healthcare Systems in Australia and India - Assignment Help

Introduction

In any country, having healthy citizens is crucial to maximising their contribution to the economy and society as a whole. A crucial stakeholder in ensuring the health of the people is the healthcare system. For all healthcare systems, the main objective is to improve the health quality, however, it is not the only objective as there are two aspects of health quality- fairness for all and goodness of health (Rakich et al., 1992).  According to the WHO (World Health Organisation) (2002), the health system has three main goals: good health, the fairness of financial contribution, and responsiveness to the expectations of the population. The above objectives can be fulfilled by taking care of multiple aspects including effectively promoting health and disease prevention; appropriately responding to new threats as they emerge (population ageing, emerging infectious diseases, increasing burden of non-communicable injuries and diseases, and raising concern about the health effects of environmental changes); and providing access to quality services for chronic and acute health needs. The health system of yesteryears used to focus on the treatment for patients, however, the modern health care system is focussed on disease prevention by promoting an overall healthy lifestyle. Thus, it could be stated that the boundary between healthcare and welfare systems have blurred (Lameire et al., 1999).

In any health system, there are four key functions: resource generation, stewardship, service provision, and financing. The extent of these functions varies across systems as health care is a societal effort. There are several organisations which perform different functions in different varieties and combinations, thereby making the healthcare system in one country different from the healthcare system in another country. There are several considerations at play (including cost efficiency, quality of care, and access to healthcare), which determines the structuring of the healthcare system. The above considerations are dependent on the underlying values and norms that are prevailing in the society. The healthcare system can be considered to be a reflection of the culture and expectation of the citizens and therefore the healthcare systems across countries differ from one another (Magnusen et al., 2009).

This report is aimed at understanding the health care system of two countries: Australia and India. The two countries are drastically different from one another: As of 2019, whilst Australia has a population of over 25 million, India has a population of 1.36 billion (Worldometers a), 2019). Another difference is that whilst Australia has a nominal GDP of USD1.3 trillion and is the 13th largest economy in the world, India has a GDP of USD 2.6 trillion and is the 5th largest economy in the world (Worldometers b), 2019). Thus, the comparison between the healthcare systems in the two countries seems to be an interesting case. As argued by Magnusen et al. (2009) there are several aspects which differentiate the healthcare system in one country to that in another country. This report will be focussing on several aspects of healthcare systems: structure, financing and governance of each system, advantages and disadvantages of each system, and proportion of the health budget allocated to public health within each system.