Young India is demanding better healthcare
If India wants to become an economic superpower, it needs to respond to the voices of its youth.
In spite of nearly half the world’s population being under 30 years old, two out of three countries do not consult young people when framing national development plans (UN Envoy on Youth).
With an estimated 600 million people below the age of 25, India has the largest youth population in the world. While this rise in working age population (15 to 64 years) is expected to generate exponential increases in productivity and economic growth, we need to keep in mind that a demographic transition alone does not automatically create a productive workforce.
And while India has been pushing youth-targeted programmes (aimed at employment and skilling), young people’s voices have been missing from the discussion. Youth under 18 know what they want, but cannot make their voices heard as they cannot vote and lack political representation. Consequently, work happens in the name and interest of young people, but doesn’t represent their actual social, economic, and political ambitions.
Breaking away from this often paternalistic treatment of young people, the Center for Catalyzing Change (C3), launched the YouthBol campaign in 2018, in an attempt to understand the health and well-being related needs and aspirations of young Indians. They asked young people one open-ended question: “For my physical and mental health and well-being, I want…”
C3 reported that this is one of the largest surveys of youth voices in the country, covering more than 1.1 lakh people between the ages 10 and 24, across 27 states and four union territories. It combined online and offline outreach to gain maximum coverage across geographies and socioeconomic groups. C3 also made special efforts to include under-represented groups such as early adolescents (10 to 14 year olds) and transgender youth. However, since the research chose not to adopt a sampling frame, certain demographic groups and geographical regions are over-represented in the findings. For instance, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, and Tripura together accounted for only 11 responses, while West Bengal alone had 14,544.
The year-long study culminated in the publication of YouthBol: Making Youth Voices Count. Here are highlights of what the report covered.
Young India is asking for better healthcare
Better healthcare infrastructure emerged as a top priority, with approximately 36 percent of surveyed youth saying it was crucial to their health and well-being. Within healthcare infrastructure, the top priority expressed was the need for comprehensive information and services—particularly around sexual and reproductive health and rights, substance abuse, and mental health.
As adolescents are not a homogenous category, within the broader umbrella of health, the priorities of young people changed between age groups. For those in the age bracket of 15 to 19 years, understanding and managing substance abuse and mental health were their key areas of concern. On the other hand, getting more information about sex and sexuality, and access to affordable sexual health services such as contraception and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) were most important for 20 to 24 year olds.
Priorities also varied along gender lines. Young girls and women spoke out about the need for open conversations around menstrual hygiene and pain management. While for young boys, preventing and treating substance abuse was a key area of action. Specifically, they wanted more information around substance abuse that goes beyond alcohol and tobacco, including items such as paint thinners, correction fluid, and medication. In addition to building awareness, a clear need was expressed for an adolescent helpline to discuss substance abuse issues and improved access to free, good quality de-addiction and rehabilitation services.
Mental health emerged as the third key focus area within health. Young people experience a range of mental health challenges such as academic stress, peer pressure, depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and learning disabilities. As a result they expressed a pressing need for accessible, non-judgemental, confidential, and affordable mental health services. It’s important to note here, that safeguarding mental health was the primary ask from transgender youth.
Youth under 18 know what they want, but cannot make their voices heard as they cannot vote and lack political representation | Picture courtesy: Centre for Catalyzing Change
Young adults have a broad understanding of health
A key insight from the YouthBol report is that young adults don’t think of their health and well-being in a vacuum. As a result, their demands went beyond the traditional understanding of health to include areas such as education, jobs, the environment, and socio-economic conditions, among others.
1. Improved in-school services
Young people—especially those between the ages of 10 and 14—spend a significant percentage of their time in school, so it is not surprising that 26 percent of them want better infrastructure and services in schools. Not only do they want schools to be better equipped with laptops, libraries, and playgrounds; young adults across gender and age groups also asked for canteens serving healthy, nutritious food, as well as clean toilets.
Feeding into the primary ask of better health, young people want key health services to be provided at the school itself. This includes checkups, access to basic medication, and information on contraception, reproduction, and pregnancy. Most importantly, young adults want workshops and trainings on reproductive health for themselves, and for their parents and teachers.
https://idronline.org/young-india-is-demanding-better-health/
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