Class 7 Civics Chapter 2 Role of the Government in Health Extra Questions and Answers

Class 7 Civics Chapter 2 Role of the Government in Health extra questions and answers available here. Solving class 7 extra questions help students to revise the Chapter most competently. We prepared these questions as per the latest NCERT book and CBSE syllabus. Practicing these extra questions before the exam will ensure excellent marks in the exam.

Role of the Government in Health Class 7 Civics Extra Questions and Answers

Very Short Extra Questions and Answers

1: Define health.

Answer:  Health means ability of a person or animal to remain free of illness and any kind of injuries.

2: Name some factors that affect our health.

Answer: Diseases, polluted water and atmosphere.

3: People do not get adequate food or have to live in cramped conditions, will be prone to illness. True/false.

Answer: True

4: Private services like healthcare are funded by the tax money. True/false

Answer: False

5: To avail private healthcare services patients have to pay a lot of money. True/False.

Answer: True

6: Adequate healthcare available to all in India. True/False.

Answer: False

7: To be healthy, it is not necessary to live without mental strain. True/ False.

Answer: False

8: India has the largest number of medical colleges in the world and is among largest producer of _____________________.

Answer: Doctors

9: India gets large number of medical___________________ from many countries.

Answer: Tourist

10: Who runs public health care system?

Answer: Government

11: Suppose you see long queues, outside a hospital OPD counter. What kind of hospital is that?

Answer: Public hospital

12: Which of the two is expensive a private hospital or public hospital?

Answer: Private hospital

13: State the function of village health workers.

Answer: They deals with common illness and works under the supervision of Doctors at primary Health Centre.

14: From where does government gets funds to invest on various health care plans and schemes?

Answer: By the tax paid by people

15. Give some water borne diseases.

Answer: Example – diarrhoea, worms, hepatitis, etc.

16. What do you mean by public health?

Answer: It refers to the health of general public.

17. Who runs public health care system?

Answer: Government runs public health care system.

18. In what kind of hospital patients see long queues?

Answer: Patients usually have to see long queues in public hospitals.

19. What does RMPs stand for?

Answer: Registered Medical Practitioners (RMPs).

20. What do people in democratic country expect from the government?

Answer: In a democracy people expect the government to work for their welfare.

21. What do you mean by living standard?

Answer: Living standard refers to the quality of housing, material comfort, and wealth experienced by an individual or group.

22. What are communicable diseases?

Answer: These are diseases that are spread from one person to another in many ways such as through water, food, air, etc.

23. What are the factors that affect our health?

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

24. Why did Hakim Sheikh and PBKMS file a case in the court?

Answer: Hakim Sheikh and PBKMS filed a case in the court because the indifferent attitude of all the hospitals that refused to admit him.

Short Extra Questions and Answers

1. What is OPD?

Answer: This is the short form for ‘Out Patient Department’. This is where people are first brought in and treated in a hospital without being admitted to any special ward.

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

Answer: 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.

3. What do you understand by public healthcare system?

Answer: This is a system of hospitals and health centres run by the government. It has the ability to look after the health of a large section of its population scattered over hundreds of thousands of villages.

4. What do you mean by medical tourists?

Answer: 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.

5. What did the court ask the state government in Hakim Sheik case and why?

Answer: 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.

6. How can we prevent and treat illnesses?

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

7. What do village health workers do?

Answer: At the village level there are health centres where there is usually a nurse and a village health worker. They are trained in dealing with common illnesses and work under the supervision of doctors at the Primary Health Centre (PHC).

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

Answer: 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.

9. In order to earn more money, these private services encourage practices that are incorrect. Comment

Answer: In order to earn more money, these private services encourage practices that are incorrect. At times cheaper methods, though available, are not used. For example, it is common to find doctors prescribing unnecessary medicines, injections or saline bottles when tablets or simple medicines can suffice.

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

Answer:  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 on illness make their situation even worse.

Long Extra Questions and Answers

1. What are the functions of public health system?

Answer: Functions of public health system are:

  • To provide quality health care services either free or at a low cost, so that even the poor can seek treatment.
  • To take action to prevent the spread of diseases such as TB, malaria, jaundice, cholera, diarrhoea, chikungunya, etc.

2. What are the important aspects of public health system?

Answer: 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, diarrhoea, chikungunya, etc.

3. What are the different ways through which the government can take steps to provide healthcare for all? Discuss.

Answer: Government can take following steps to provide healthcare for all.

  • By increasing healthcare facilities such as hospitals, ambulance service, etc.
  • By organizing free health checkup camp especially in rural and backward areas.
  • By spreading health related awareness among the people.

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

Answer: Water and sanitation are the basic necessities for the maintenance proper health. Use of contaminated water can cause disease such as cholera, 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.

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

Answer: 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 fulfil 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.

6. What were the major changes made by Kerala government in 1996?

Answer: Major changes made by Kerala government in 1996 were:

  • Forty per cent of the entire state budget was given to panchayats. They could plan and provide for their requirements.
  • This made it possible for a village to make sure that proper planning was done for water, food, women’s development and education.
  • This meant that water supply schemes were checked, the working of schools and anganwadis was ensured and specific problems of the village were taken up.
  • Health centres were also improved.

7. Is adequate healthcare available to all?

Answer: No, adequate healthcare is not available to all. In India, we face a situation where private services are increasing but public services are not. So, mainly private services are available and that too are concentrated in urban areas. As these services are expensive, many people cannot afford them or have to borrow money when there is an illness in the family. Women are not taken to a doctor in a prompt manner as women’s health concerns are considered to be less important than the health of men in the family. Many tribal areas have few health centres and they do not run properly. Even private health services are not available.

8. What is health?

Answer: 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 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.

9. What are the positive aspects of healthcare in India?

Answer: Positive aspects of healthcare in India are:

  • India has the largest number of medical colleges in the world and is among the largest producers of doctors.
  • Healthcare facilities have grown substantially over the years. In 1991, there were 11,174 hospitals. In 2000, the number grew to 18,218.
  • India gets a large number of medical tourists from many countries. They come for treatment in some of the hospitals in India that compare with the best in the world.
  • India is the fourth largest producer of medicines in the world and is also a large exporter of medicines.

10. What are the negative aspects of healthcare in India?

Answer: Negative aspects of healthcare in India are:

  • Most doctors settle in urban areas. People in rural areas have to travel long distances to reach a doctor. The number of doctors with respect to the population is much less in rural areas.
  • About five lakh people die from tuberculosis every year. This number is almost unchanged since Independence!
  • Almost two million cases of malaria are reported every year and this number isn’t decreasing.
  • Clean drinking water is not available to all.
  • Half of all children in India do not get adequate food to eat and are undernourished.

11. Write a note on the Costa Rican approach.

Answer: 

  • Costa Rica is considered to be one of the healthiest countries in South America. The main reason for this can be found in the Costa Rican Constitution.
  • Several years ago, Costa Rica took a very important decision and decided not to have an army. This helped the Costa Rican government to spend the money that the army would have used, on health, education and other basic needs of the people.
  • The Costa Rican government believes that a country has to be healthy for its development and pays a lot of attention to the health of its people.
  • The Costa Rican government provides basic services and amenities to all Costa Ricans. Health education is also considered very important and knowledge about health is an essential part of education at all levels.

12. Differentiate between public health services and private health services.

Answer: Difference between public health services and private health services

Public health servicesPrivate health services
The public health service is a chain of health centres and hospitals run by the government.  Private health facilities are not owned or controlled by the government.
It is meant to provide quality health care services either free or at a low cost, so that even the poor can seek treatment.  These services are run for profit; the cost of these services is rather high.
Public health services in rural as well as in urban areas.Private health services are concentrated mainly in urban areas.  
Patients usually have to wait in long queues in public hospitals.People do not face such problem in private hospitals.  

13. Why pay taxes to the government?

Answer: We should pay taxes to the government because

  • Government uses tax money for providing many public services such as such as defence, police, judicial system, highways etc. for the benefit of all citizens.
  • Taxes fund developmental programmes and services such as education, health care, employment, social welfare, vocational training etc. required for needy citizens.
  • Tax money is utilised for relief and rehabilitation in case of natural disasters.
  • Space, nuclear, and missile programmes are also funded from the revenues collected as taxes.
  • Government provides some services especially for the poor who cannot afford to purchase them from the market.