India's health spend low, needs to be made priority: Niti Aayog's V K Paul

Says competing priorities have subdued it, Calls for raising spend to 8% of budget

India health expenditure is “low” and needs to be raised by both the Centre and state government to 8 per cent of the Budget, said V K Paul, member-health, NITI Aayog. 

Competing priorities have kept the spending on the sector low, said Paul, calling for an immediate correction in this, especially in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Addressing the Asia Health Summit, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Thursday, Paul said the current expenditure is less than 5 per cent of the Budget in most states. “The Centre will have to work with states to see how they can