4 Contagious Illnesses Young Indians Want To Stay Cautious Of

Reliance Health Gain takes care of everything from medical bills to vital services even when you are in isolation.

The last three years have shown that the youngest and healthiest with the fittest immune system can also be prey to life-threatening diseases. Viruses and diseases don’t discriminate. Anyone can get infected by communicable diseases that spread through direct physical contact with the infected person, airborne virus, contact with infected body fluids, or insect or animal bites. In the last half a decade, India has made considerable progress in improving health infrastructure, early diagnosis of diseases and access to their treatment.

But it continues to spend some of the lowest amounts on health - around 1.1% of its GDP. The National Health Policy recommends increasing the outlay to 2.5% at least. Particularly as we have not completely eradicated some of these illnesses. Here are the four contagious illnesses that are prevalent in India:

1. Covid-19

India has officially recorded more than 4.3 crores of Covid-19 cases in the last three years. But the number is expected to be far higher. We have developed multiple vaccines to stay protected against the virus. Now scientists wary of possible mutations, are preparing for future pandemics.

The hospitalisation expenses to cure this disease run extremely high particularly, if you suffer from other co-morbidities such as obesity or diabetes. Thus, opting for health insurance and health gain insurance from Reliance General Insurance, is extremely beneficial as one does not have to worry about medical bills and run from pillar to post for basic healthcare services.

“I hospitalised my sister late at night and it was a stressful time. The Reliance executive took care of everything related to claims submission and approvals. This was the first time we availed the cashless claim and the executive guided us through the entire process. I am extremely relieved with the services offered by Reliance General Insurance,” said IT professional, Rashmi Patidar.

2. Malaria

Malaria is one of the most common communicable diseases caused by a plasmodium parasite. It is pre-dominant during the monsoon season and among children below five-year-old. The primary symptom of this disease is a very high fever and chills. It is treatable but hospitalisation may be needed in severe cases where the treatment cost could reach in lakhs. If insurance policy is available such hospitalisations can be taken care by the insurance company.

3. AIDS

Caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), AIDS is one of the most easily transmitted diseases globally. HIV is a sexually transmitted virus that can also be transferred from an infected mother to child during pregnancy. It is also transmitted through blood transfusion, and breastfeeding. The treatment is rare, difficult to access, expensive and involves a type of medication known as Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART). Such patients would be required to be hospitalized very frequently and the repetitive hospitalisation bills could be skyrise.

4. Tuberculosis

TB is a major public health challenge in India, with nearly a third of cases globally reported cases in the country. According to the Ministry of Health, in 2021, there was a 19% increase in the number of TB cases reported from previous year. The total number of incident TB patients notified during 2021 were 19,33,381 as opposed to that of 16,28,161 in 2020.

It is curable and preventable if diagnosed accurately and as early as possible. But misdiagnoses remain a massive problem, and access to TB drugs and healthcare a challenge.

“Reliance General Insurance offers fast and easy customer care services. There were no hassles in filling out the forms and it is easily available across every hospital. No money is also required at the time of admission,” said businessman Pramod Sinha.

In India, treating communicable diseases can amount to exorbitant costs. Your insurance policy must cover all healthcare costs both pre and post hospitalisation.

For this, the Reliance Health Gain Insurance is available in individual as well as family floater plans. It offers multiple benefits such as cashless hospitalisation, reinstatement of base sum-insured, pre and post hospitalisation expenses. Their wide sum-insured 3 lakhs to ₹1 crore option covers up to 12 family members in the same family floater policy, offers loyalty benefits on year-on-year renewal (over and above sum insured limit) and with comes numerous add-on features.

Visit here for more information on Reliance General Insurance.