The National Health Policy, 2017 is more of a roadmap and aspirational goal statements than actual real steps being taken to alleviate India’s healthcare problems. Considering that the last health policy document was 15 years ago in 2002, this is good news. This policy statement was issued after a supreme court nudge as well as Aam Aadmi Party’s political strategies in Delhi which have put the focus back on Healthcare and Education as it should be in a country as big as India. This is at least forcing the present ruling government to look at healthcare as an important aspect of their governance.
For the record, India is among the lowest in the world in public healthcare expenditure at around 1.2–1.4% of GDP while private healthcare expenditure is 4- 4.2% of GDP (different sources). What this essentially means is that more than 80% of healthcare expenditure is “out of pocket”. The public…
