Govt spends paltry Rs 1,112 on health of every citizen

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 19

The government health spending per person per year in India is Rs1,112 and it has only marginally improved over the years.

India’s National Health Profile (NHP)-2018 unveiled on Tuesday says the per capita public expenditure on health in the country has gone up from Rs 621 in 2009-2010 to Rs 1,112 in 2015-2016 and was Rs 1,397 at the revised estimates stage of 2016-2017 Budget.

The document is produced annually by the Central Bureau of Health Intelligence under the Health Ministry. The profile acknowledges India’s worst fears on attainment of Universal Health Coverage. “Compared to other countries that have either universal health coverage or are moving towards it, India’s per capita public spending on health is low,” says the government’s own production.

The latest documentation is an eye-opener when the Narendra Modi-led NDA government is moving ahead with the ambitious Ayushman Bharat Mission wherein the National Health Protection Scheme component seeks to provide Rs 5 lakh financial cover to 10 crore poor families, in a bid to boost UHC.

Health Minister JP Nadda said, “When we meet to release National Health Profile-2019, the situation on out-of-pocket expenditure on healthcare would have drastically improved as the National Health Protection Scheme would have been rolled out.”

Nadda’s confidence notwithstanding, many states remain anxious about the financial sourcing of the ambitious health protection scheme that requires states to invest 40 per cent cost as against Centre’s 60 per cent. That explains delays by states like Punjab in signing the related MoUs.

Overall, the Centre-state share in public spending on health in India is 31:69.