Despite substantial efforts and big spending by the government, the National Family Health Survey, 2007, showed that disease burden and child malnutrition have remained at almost the levels that existed when India became independent in 1947.
The worst sufferers are the poor, who cannot afford private health care. While scarce or overburdened health infrastructure is a problem, a Transparency International India-Centre for Media Studies survey has brought to light a more pernicious side to the problem: corruption. The study shows while 80% of the so-called below the poverty line, or BPL, households interacted with public health services, about one in six had to pay a bribe.
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