<ul><li>As much as 86 per cent of the rural population and 82% of the urban population is without health-expenditure support.<br> </li><li>The average medical expenditure for treating one ailment without being admitted to hospital was Rs 509 in rural India and Rs 639 in urban India.<br> </li><li>Up to 58 per cent of hospital care occurred in private hospitals in rural India; it was 68% in urban India.</li></ul><div> </div><div>Allopathy was the most prevalent form of treatment for both urban and rural India, and private doctors were the most important single source of treatment across India, according to the latest health survey conducted by the statistics ministry.</div><div> </div><div>Nearly 12 per cent of people in urban areas reported ailments over a survey period of 15 days, an increase of 2 per cent over the previous survey in 2004. Only 9 per cent of rural India reported some ailment during the period, a marginal increase.</div><div> </div><div><img alt="" src="http://bw-image.s3.amazonaws.com/graphics3-lrg.jpg"></div><div> </div><div>The urban-rural divide becomes more pronounced when you look at the age-wise break-up of those suffering ailments:</div><div> </div><div><img alt="" src="http://bw-image.s3.amazonaws.com/agewise.jpg" style="width: 577px; height: 336px;"></div><div> </div><div>The rural-urban divide is particularly evident in the 45-59 age group. While only 13 per cent of people in rural India reported some ailment, the figure was nearly 21 per cent in urban India, greater by 8 per cent.</div><div> </div><div>This was also evident in the 70+ category: 31 per cent in rural India were unwell, as against 37 per cent in urban India.</div><div> </div><div>Changing lifestyles are driving an epidemiological transition from communicable to non-communicable diseases across India, particularly urban India, IndiaSpend previously reported.</div><div> </div><div>The indicators are based on surveys between January and June 2014 across 4,577 villages in rural areas and 3,720 urban blocks spread across all states and union territories. The number of households contacted for the survey was 36,480 in rural India and 29,452 in urban India.</div><div> </div><div><strong>Expenditure in private hospitals four times higher than in state hospitals</strong></div><div> </div><div>While 4 per cent of people in urban India were hospitalised over the year before the survey, only 3.5 per cent of people in rural India were hospitalised.</div><div> </div><div>While 42 per cent in hospitals in rural India chose public hospitals, it was only 32 per cent in urban areas, as we mentioned. That means 58 per cent of the people in rural areas and 62 per cent in urban areas were treated in private hospitals.</div><div> </div><div>Expenditure in private hospitals was almost four times higher than in public hospitals: Rs 25,850 in private hospitals and Rs 6,120 in public hospitals.</div><div> </div><div>About 12% of the urban and 13% of the rural population got health insurance through the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (National Health Insurance Scheme) or similar plans, the report said.</div><div> </div><div><strong>Malayalees Sicker Than Other Indians</strong></div><div> </div><div>Kerala reported the highest deviation for both urban and rural areas at 31 per cent, against the all-India ailment average of 12 per cent and 9 per cent, respectively.</div><div> </div><div>This implies prosperous Kerala, with one of India’s best public-health systems, is particularly susceptible to lifestyle diseases, as IndiaSpend has reported.</div><div> </div><div><img alt="" src="http://bw-image.s3.amazonaws.com/graphics2-lrg.jpg" style="width: 592px; height: 720px;"></div><div> </div><div><strong>Dipping Into Savings</strong></div><div> </div><div>While 75 per cent of urban India relied on income or savings to pay hospital expenses, only 68 per cent of rural households could do the same. Almost 25 per cent of households in rural areas had to borrow money to meet hospital expenses.</div><div> </div><div><img alt="" src="http://bw-image.s3.amazonaws.com/graphics4-lrg.jpg" style="width: 595px; height: 320px;"></div><div> </div><div>(Team <a href="http://www.indiaspend.com/cover-story/rural-india-healthier-than-urban-india-malayalees-sickest-40826" target="_blank">IndiaSpend</a>)</div>
