Role of Government in Health Class 7 Worksheet Civics

Q.1. What do you mean by medical tourists?

This refers to foreigners who come to this country specifically for medical treatment at hospitals that offer world-class facilities at a lower cost than what they would have to pay in their own countries.

Q.2. Why are women not taken to a doctor in a prompt manner? 

Women are not taken to a doctor in a prompt manner because women’s health concerns are considered to be less important than the health of men in the family.

Q.3. What happened to Hakim Sheik?

One evening in 1992, Hakim Sheik accidentally fell off a running train and suffered head injuries. He was in a very serious condition and needed immediate treatment.

Q.4. What are the factors that affect our health?

Diseases, drinking water, adequate food, sanitation, environment, and mental health are the factors that affect our health.

Q.5. What do you mean by living standards?

The living standard refers to the quality of housing, material comfort, and wealth experienced by an individual or group.

Q.6. What do RMPs stand for?

Registered Medical Practitioners (RMPs).

Q.7. Who runs the public health care system?

The government runs the public health care system.

Q.8. ‘Improvement in water and sanitation can control many diseases.’ Explain with the help of examples.

Water and sanitation are the basic necessities for the maintenance of proper health. The use of contaminated water can cause diseases such as cholera, and skin diseases and can also cause cancer, reproductive problems, typhoid, and stomach ailments. Sanitation is important for all, helping to maintain health and increase life spans. Poor sanitation causes infectious diseases including cholera, typhoid, infectious hepatitis, polio, cryptosporidiosis, and ascariasis. Thus, improvement in water and sanitation can control many diseases.

Q.9. What are the important aspects of the public health system?

One of the most important aspects of the public health system is that it is meant to provide quality health care services either free or at a low cost so that even the poor can seek treatment. Another important function of public health is to take action to prevent the spread of diseases such as TB, malaria, jaundice, cholera, diarrhea, chikungunya, etc.

Q.10. Why are poor people more likely to fall ill?

Those who are poor are in the first place undernourished. These families are not eating as much as they should. They are not provided basic necessities like drinking water, adequate housing, clean surroundings, etc., and therefore, are more likely to fall ill. The expenses of illness make their situation even worse.

Q.11. Why government hospitals are less expensive as compared to private hospitals?

The government uses tax money for providing many public health services for the benefit of all citizens. Therefore, government hospitals are less expensive. As private health services are run for profit, the cost of these services is rather high.

Q.12. How can we prevent and treat illnesses?

In order to prevent and treat illnesses, we need appropriate healthcare facilities such as health centers, hospitals, laboratories for testing, ambulance services, blood banks, etc., that can provide the required care and services that patients need.

Q.13. What is health?

We can think of health in many ways. Health means our ability to remain free of illness and injuries. But health isn’t only about the disease. Apart from disease, we need to think of other factors that affect our health. For example, if people get clean drinking water or a pollution-free environment they are likely to be healthy. On the other hand, if people do not get adequate food to eat or have to live in cramped conditions, they will be prone to illness. All of us would like to be active and in good spirits in whatever we may be doing. It isn’t healthy to be dull, inactive, anxious, or scared for long stretches of time. We all need to be without mental strain. All of these various aspects of our lives are a part of health.

Q.14. What the court said in Hakim Sheik’s case?

The Court said that the difficulty that Hakim Sheik had to face could have cost him his life. If a hospital cannot provide timely medical treatment to a person, it means that this protection of life is not being given. The Court also said that it was the duty of the government to provide the necessary health services, including treatment in emergency situations. Hospitals and medical staff must fulfill their duty of providing the necessary treatment. Hakim Sheik was denied treatment at various government hospitals. Therefore, the Court asked the State Government to give him the money that he had spent on his treatment.

Q.15. Why pay taxes to the government? 

We should pay taxes to the government because
(i) Government uses tax money for providing many public services such as defense, police, judicial system, highways, etc. for the benefit of all citizens.
(ii) Taxes fund developmental programs and services such as education, health care, employment, social welfare, vocational training, etc. required for needy citizens.
(iii) Tax money is utilized for relief and rehabilitation in case of natural disasters.
(iv) Space, nuclear, and missile programs are also funded from the revenues collected as taxes.
(v) Government provides some services, especially for the poor who cannot afford to purchase them from the market.