National   

More investment sought in public healthcare

NEW DELHI: The Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA), an organisation that analyses budget from the perspective of the poor and the marginalised, has presented a case for increasing investment in public healthcare in India.

“Disappointingly, none of the recent policy documents, be it the National Health Policy [2002], or the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), lays out concrete plans to step up public investment in healthcare, though they recognise the problem, and talk about greater investment,” the CBGA has said while impressing upon the government to take serious measures to fulfil its commitment of raising public investment on health to 2-3 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Pointing out that the United Progressive Alliance government projected the NRHM as its flagship programme, with the aim of providing quality health infrastructure to the rural people, the CBGA said that in practice it ended up becoming an umbrella programme of many existing schemes with hardly any new initiative except for the Accredited Social Health Activist scheme.

Moreover, the financing of NRHM so far revealed that it was focussed more on selective interventions, and the aspect of universalisation of public health was deeply neglected.

“Even the commitment of increasing allocations by 30 per cent every year has been violated with the increase being between 18 and 20 per cent in nominal terms whereas the real increase is much less. Around 80 per cent of the increase in allocation was in HIV/AIDS programme, Reproductive and Child Health, medical education and alternative medicines, while strengthening of primary health care infrastructure remains grossly neglected,” the CBGA said.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

CBSE questions to test thinking skills
Assam CPI(M) for joint fight with non-Congress, non-BJP parties
Mayawati threatens to withdraw support to Centre
Mulford’s statement condemned by CPI
More investment sought in public healthcare
UNPA blames UPA for farmers’ plight
Centre’s strategy to deal with naxalite problem
Naval officer dead
CPI(M) leader Ranganekar passes away
Walk for life
Sun shines on Srinagar
Ban on shuttlecock imports to stay
Tejas flight, with drop tanks, successful

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu