Health sector allocation enhanced three times under 12th Plan: PM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said allocation for health sector during the 12th Plan period has been enhanced by three times over the previous Plan with the aim to address the complex challenges before it.

The outlay for the sector in the 12th Plan period has been fixed at Rs 3 lakh crore, which accounts for 1.95 per cent of GDP. During the last plan period, the sector had got Rs 89,265 crore. “The allocation for health sector has been enhanced some three times in the 12th Five Year Plan as compared with the 11th Plan allocation,” he said speaking at the foundation stone-laying function of the redevelopment project of Lady Hardinge Medical College here.

He said adequate thrust is being laid on nutrition, safe drinking water, sanitation, housing and education, particularly education of girl child as they are increasingly being underlined as social determinants of health. Pointing to the latest sample registration system finding that India's infant mortality rate has declined by further three points during the last one year, the Prime Minister felt India still has a long way to go on this front as it continues to lag behind other developing countries.

In this regard, he said if the same energy and commitment that was brought to efforts to eradicate polio from India could also be put in to reducing infant mortality rate further, the country's “demographic indicators would certainly appear much better”.

He also noted that free generic drugs will be made available through all public hospitals in the country to help in “reducing out-of-pocket expenditure of the poor” on health.