Health equity and gendered border blindness: an exploration of healthcare services at the international border in Rajasthan

Objectives: Citizens' access to health care and the delivery of the healthcare services is significantly affected by the spatiality of the regions and the connectedness of the elements of the healthcare system. This network of healthcare system, region and delivery of services faces myriad challenges in the borderland geography, which is characterised by accentuated military presence, poor physical infrastructure, disinterest of habitation near the border, lack of adequate, necessary and allied services such as schools and industry, social seclusion, migration etc. All these factors amalgamate to create an effect of gender -blind phenomenon as well as border -blind phenomenon. This is particularly acute for women and children. Study design: A phenomenology research design has been used for the study. It encapsulates qualitative aspects of the views of those who experience marginalisation inclusive of gender -blind experiences. Marginalised women and frontline healthcare workers at the borderland were considered for the inquiry in this study. The study is a composite description of the phenomenon. Methods: The border districts of Rajasthan from the Radcliffe line of Rajasthan have been identified for the purpose of the study. Using narrative ethnography along with interviews, an examination was executed from health professionals and marginalised women to comprehend health care access and equity from the service provider's perspective as well as the beneficiary's perspective. Results: The study provides a range of attributions based on which it could be established that health inequities exist in bordering rural areas. Conclusions: The study realises the geopolitical influence of the Radcliffe line, where borderlands are commonly vital to the continuum struggle between the centre and state. Yet, there remains a gap towards implementing various schemes and services due to varied reasons for access from main to far-off border areas, making the situation vulnerable from a resource deficiency point of view. The Health Equity Framework cannot meet Social Determinants of Health in borderland areas of Rajasthan. (c) 2023 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.