Achieving health equity requires ensuring universal healthcare access. Marginalised populations face additional challenges in health care, leading to high rates of neonatal and maternal mortality, low birth weight often leading to premature death, child undernutrition and growing non communicable diseases. Continuity signifies the coherent health care with an uninterrupted transition over time. This in turn is dependent on the accessibility of continuity in health service users, care, health care professionals for a healthy community.
Challenges affecting the continuity may be demographic, geographic, literacy level, health seeking behaviour or workforce shortage. The vast and diverse geographical locations of our country inhibits proper penetration of health care delivery in such areas. A closer examination of the wide gap between the people in varied ecological settings will help us to overcome the socio-ecological determinants specific to each region. Along with it, the changing pattern of diseases has enhanced the burden further. The specifics therefore differ from region to region. Intervention strategies should be designed to reflect both the environmental and cultural contents of the people and their behavioural responses.
A fuller understanding of health in India, recognising the heterogeneity across the country among the marginalised populations may call upon tailored approaches to address the issues.
