Social medicine is concerned with how social and economic factors impact health and disease. It aims to understand these relationships and create conditions for a healthier society. Socialized medicine describes universal healthcare systems funded through taxation where medical care is available to all at low cost. Pros include affordability, uniform access to care regardless of income, and healthcare for all citizens. Cons can include potentially lower quality care, decreased medical innovation, and increased tax burden. Some countries with socialized medicine systems are described. In India, various state-run health insurance schemes have been launched to provide socialized care.
3. Social Medicine can be defined as the study of
man as a social being in his total environment.
It stands on two pillars : Medicine and Sociology
The term Social Medicine was coined by Jules
Guerin of France in 1848 who studied relation
between social problems and general health.
4. It is concerned with a body of knowledge
embodied in epidemiology and medical needs
and medical care of society.
Jules Guerin further divided Social Medicine into
4 parts
1.Social Physiology 2.Social pathology
3.Social Hygiene 4.Social Therapy.
5. The concept of Social Medicine is based on the
following
1.Suffering of man is not only due to pathogens
but can be due to social causes.
2.The consequences of the disease is not only
physical but also social.
3.Comphrensive therapeutics has to include
social remedies in addition to medical care.
4.Social services are often required with medical
care services.
6. The field of Social Medicine seeks to:
âą understand how social and economic
conditions impact health, disease and the
practice of medicine and
âą foster conditions in which this understanding
can lead to a healthier society.
8. Socialized Medicine is a term used to describe
and discuss systems of universal health care :
medical and hospital care for all at a nominal
cost by means of government regulation
of health care and subsidies derived
from taxation.
9. Pros of Socialized Medicine
âą 1.Affordability
Socialized medicine makes healthcare
affordable. Those who donât have enough
spare money, those living below the poverty
line or even the middle class families that
cannot always bear the healthcare costs
without causing a dent in their wallet can buy
subsidized medicines.
10. 2. Uniformity
every citizen enjoys the same standard of
health care irrespective of economic status.
3.Provides health care for all.
11. cons
âą 1.Does not guarantee best health care
facilities.
âą 2.Decreases innovation.
âą 3.Increased tax burden for general population.
13. Socialized Medicine in India
âą Government-sponsored Health Insurance
schemes (GSHISs) are not new to India, but
surely the evolution has been slow.
Employeesâ State Insurance Scheme (ESIS)
Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS)
schemes are in vogue since decades.
14. âą In the last decade, a few states have
successfully launched health insurance
schemes:
âą AarogyaSri (Andhra Pradesh)
âą Vajpayee Arogyashri (Karnataka)
âą The Chief Minister Comprehensive Health
Insurance (Tamil Nadu)
âą RSBY Plus (Himachal Pradesh).
15. âą National Health Assurance Mission (NHAM) is
likely to be launched in coming days
âą National Health Assurance Mission (NHAM) is
one example of Government-sponsored
Health Insurance schemes (GSHISs).