India Slashes Health Budget, Already One of the World's Lowest
The Indian government has ordered a cut of nearly 20 percent in its 2014/15 healthcare budget due to fiscal strains, putting at risk key disease control initiatives there.
Jai ho Ayushman Bharath
Budget 2018: Insufficient allocation for the health sector
Narendra Modi government's ambitious National Health Policy 2017 may remain a promise if the budget allocation for health sector during the year is any indication. While NHP aims to double the government spend - from the existing 1.15 % of the GDP to 2.5 % by 2025, the budgetary allocation of Rs 52,800 crore for health in 2018/19 was merely 5 per cent higher than the revised estimate of Rs 50,079.6 crore, in 2017/18.
It is estimated that to meet the objectives of the policy, the governments - both central and state - together should increase their total allocation towards health to Rs 800,000 crore, up from the current Rs 200,000 crore by year 2025. To achieve that, the central government health budget alone should increase at least 20 percent year-on-year for the next seven-eight years. While the budgetary allocation for the previous year, 25 percent higher than Rs 37,671 crore spent in 2016/17, indicated the government's seriousness in implementing the policy suggestions, it seems to have lost momentum this year. Even if one go by the budgetary allocation of Rs 47,352 crore for 2017/18 (and not revised estimates), the increase in this year's budget is 11 percent, half of what is needed.
The Union Budget, however is not short of making big announcements. It quoted NHP to say that the government is going ahead with the establishment of Health and Wellness Centres as the foundation of India's health system. "These 1.5 lakh centres will bring health care system closer to the homes of people. These centres will provide comprehensive health care, including for noncommunicable diseases and maternal and child health services. These centres will also provide free essential drugs and diagnostic services", Jaitley said in his budget speech. He has committed Rs 1,200 crore in the budget for this flagship programme and invited the contributions of the private sector through CSR and philanthropic institutions in adopting these centres.
The government also announced an expanded version of its health insurance scheme. "The present Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) provide annual coverage of only Rs 30,000 to poor families. Several state governments have also implemented/supplemented health protection schemes providing varying coverage. We will launch a flagship National Health Protection Scheme to cover over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families (approximately 50 crore beneficiaries) providing coverage upto 5 lakh rupees per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation", he announced. While Jaitley claimed this to be the world's largest government funded health care programme, its details are yet to be known.
It is estimated that to meet the objectives of the policy, the governments - both central and state - together should increase their total allocation towards health to Rs 800,000 crore, up from the current Rs 200,000 crore by year 2025. To achieve that, the central government health budget alone should increase at least 20 percent year-on-year for the next seven-eight years. While the budgetary allocation for the previous year, 25 percent higher than Rs 37,671 crore spent in 2016/17, indicated the government's seriousness in implementing the policy suggestions, it seems to have lost momentum this year. Even if one go by the budgetary allocation of Rs 47,352 crore for 2017/18 (and not revised estimates), the increase in this year's budget is 11 percent, half of what is needed.
The Union Budget, however is not short of making big announcements. It quoted NHP to say that the government is going ahead with the establishment of Health and Wellness Centres as the foundation of India's health system. "These 1.5 lakh centres will bring health care system closer to the homes of people. These centres will provide comprehensive health care, including for noncommunicable diseases and maternal and child health services. These centres will also provide free essential drugs and diagnostic services", Jaitley said in his budget speech. He has committed Rs 1,200 crore in the budget for this flagship programme and invited the contributions of the private sector through CSR and philanthropic institutions in adopting these centres.
The government also announced an expanded version of its health insurance scheme. "The present Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) provide annual coverage of only Rs 30,000 to poor families. Several state governments have also implemented/supplemented health protection schemes providing varying coverage. We will launch a flagship National Health Protection Scheme to cover over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families (approximately 50 crore beneficiaries) providing coverage upto 5 lakh rupees per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation", he announced. While Jaitley claimed this to be the world's largest government funded health care programme, its details are yet to be known.
Everybody Loves a Good Drought: Stories from India's Poorest Districts
By Palagummi SainathEvery year Infections and claim millions of lives . These include diarrhoea, dysentery, typhoid, cholera and infectious hepatitis. Water-related diseases, including malaria, take their toll in tens of thousands of human lives annually.Yet, every third human being in the world without safe and adequate water supply is an Indian. Every fourth Child on the globe Who dies of diarrhoea is an Indian. Every third person in the world With leprosy is an Indian. Every fourth being on the planet dying of water-borne or water- related diseases is an Indian. Of the over sixteen million tuberculosis cases that exist at any time world-wide, 12.7 million are in India. Tens of millions of Indians suffer from malnutrition. It lays their systems open to an array of fatal ailments. Yet, official expenditure on nutrition is less than one per cent of GNP.
Never in history have Indian governments spent more than 1.8 per cent of GDP on health. The current figure of public spending is 1.3 per cent of GDP. Nicaragua spends 6.7, Brazil 2.8 and China 2.1 per cent. Among the advanced industrial nations, Sweden spends 7.9 and the United States 5.6 per cent. When newly independent, India committed 5 per cent of the outlay of her first five year plan to health. In a nation emerging from over a century of colonial rule, exploitation, famines and mass deaths from disease, that was and is a vital Step. But this has come down to 1.7 per cent by the eighth five year plan, falling With each successive plan. In terms of health infrastructures, countries like China and Sri Lanka are way ahead of India.
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