Delivering on promises

A recent study reveals that India’s public health spend is among the lowest in the world, but things are getting better.

There are certain things which one is aware of, but the reality of the situation hits hard when facts are presented. This is especially true in the case of public health spending in India. While most of us are fretting over swine flu, which seems to have gripped the nation, a recent report from the World Health Organisation (WHO) brings to light some desperate facts on the state of the public health system in India. India ranks 171st out of 175 countries in the world in public health spending.

When Microsoft chief Bill Gates visited the country recently, this was one of the issues he raised. He said it was imperative that the Indian government spend money on already existing health schemes. But Gates was optimistic, encouraged by the kind of progress that has been made of late in the health sector. And he felt that if the country continued the work, the numbers would get better. He stressed that it is up to both government and private sector to work in tandem to make the country a better place to live in.

The study states that about 5.2 per cent of the country’s GDP is spent on health care, out of which less than 1 per cent comes from the government and the rest from the private sector. Thanks to the impetus which private sector organisations have provided, the numbers look a shade better.

It’s no surprise that India is among the leading nations which has a high prevalence of chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension. The government has been making an effort to increase spending through initiatives like the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).

The study notes that if the health of a nation improves, so does its wealth — which is ironic, as the economic growth in India in the last few years has been pretty good. So, while the GDP of the country has grown, the spending on healthcare has not increased proportionately.

For the government’s part, one of the NRHM’s chief aims is to increase state spending on health to at least 2.3 per cent of GDP. For this, the government had hiked the total outlay to Rs 12,000 crore for the year 2009-10.

With the health problems this country faces, especially in rural areas, will that be enough? An enormous task is at hand as far as health care is concerned. And big steps need to be taken if India wants to become a healthy nation.