India's stretched healthcare fails millions in rural areas

Sonu Devandan, a sickle cell patient, lies on a bed at a government hospital in Ambikapur district, Chhattisgarh state, India, Monday, March 20, 2023. [AP Photo]

Poonam Gond is learning to describe her pain by numbers.

Zero means no pain and 10 is agony. Gond was at seven late last month. "I have never known zero pain," she said, sitting in the plastic chair where she spends most of her days.