National Health Authority (NHA) estimates for 2017-2018 clearly show that there has been an increase in the share of government health expenditure in the total GDP of the country. It has increased from 1.15 per cent in 2013-14 to 1.35 per cent in 2017-2018, informed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Monday.
The official release stated, “The 2017-2018 NHA estimates not only show government expenditure on health exhibiting an increasing trend but also growing trust in the public health care system. With the present estimate of NHA 2017-18, India has had a continuous Time Series on NHA estimates for both government and private sources for five years since 2013-2014. These estimates are not only comparable internationally, but also enable the policymakers to monitor progress towards universal health coverage as envisaged in the National Health Policy, 2017.” The findings also show that the government’s health expenditure as a share of total Government expenditure has increased from 3.78 per cent to 5.12 per cent between 2013-14 and 2017-2018, clearly indicating the government’s priority for the health sector in the country.
In per capita terms, the government health expenditure has increased from Rs 1042 to Rs.1753 between 2013-14 to 2017-2018. The nature of the increase in the Government’s health sector is also moving in the right direction as more emphasis has been given to primary healthcare.