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| Discussion in progress |
The
millennium has seen some remarkable achievements in public health in India.
India has had some achievements in the past few decades with significant
declines in infant and maternal deaths, and halting of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Further there has been an eradication of poliomyelitis and near elimination of
neonatal tetanus. Increased investments in public health explains some of these
achievements.
Based on
recommendations of the National Health Policy (2002), budget allocations to the
health sector progressively increased every year from 2005: between 2005 and
2010, budgetary allocations increased by 300%, from Rs 10,000 crores to Rs
30,000 crores. From 0.9% of total GDP, public health expenditures increased to
about 1.3%. However, the health status of India’s citizens continues to be
poor. The country continues to have the distinction of having the largest
number of infant deaths, maternal deaths and tuberculosis cases in the world.
At 1.3% of GDP, India continues to fall under the countries with the lowest
relative public expenditure on healthcare.
In this context,
GPPI-CPR and GHS jointly organised an interactive discussion on “Budgetary
Allocation for Health in India” on March 15, 2017, to highlight key
issues in the budgetary allocation for healthcare, discuss possible solutions
and ways in which parliamentarians can play key roles in addressing them. The
discussion was led by Professor Pinaki Chakraborty, National Institute of
Public Finance and Policy and an Honorary Research Scholar at Levy Economics
Institute, New York and Dr Amir Ullah Khan, Development Economist and Policy
Expert on Health, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The discussion was chaired
by Ms Vandana Chavan, MP, Rajya Sabha. The discussion was also attended by Dr Tedros
Adhanom Ghebreyesus from Ethiopia, who is contesting for the World Health
Organisation (WHO) Director General Post.
This discussion was
part of a collaborative series of roundtables organized by both GPPI-CPR and
GHS aimed to educate and equip political leaders for comprehensive child
survival interventions for diseases that kill a large percentage of our
children in the country; create awareness and utilise platforms to raise the
profile of child survival. Twenty-Six (26) current Members of Parliament
representing both Houses participated in this discussion.
