NEW DELHI: Government expenditure on health is gradually increasing, with people showing growing trust in public healthcare system.
This is according to the fifth National Health Account (NHA) report for 2017-18, which was released on Monday by the National Health System Resource Centre (NHSRC).
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said in a statement that the share of government health expenditure in the total GDP of the country has increased from 1.15% in 2013-14 to 1.35% in 2017-18.
Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan stated that the share of government expenditure in total health expenditure has increased to 40.8% in 2017-18 from 28.6% in 2013-14.
“And the per capital out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) has declined from Rs 2,336 to Rs 2,097 from 2013-14 to 2017-18.” said the statement.
Bhushan said the NHA finding shows that the share of government expenditures on health has increased from 3.78% in 2013-14 to 5.12% in 2017-18.
Besides, per capital government expenditures on health has also gone up from Rs 1,042 in 2013-14 to Rs 1,753 in 2017-18.
As per NHA estimates, the share of primary healthcare in government health expenditure has also registered a rise from 51.1% in 2013-14 to 54.7% in 2017-18.
In overall estimates, it has been stated that primary and secondary healthcare account for more than 80% of the current government health expenditure.
It was stated that between 2016-17 and 2017-18, the government’s efforts to improve public healthcare are exhibited amply with OOPE, as a share of total health expenditure dwindled from 64.2% in 2013-14 to 48.8% in 2017-18.
“That means the burden of expenditure on healthcare on the people is declining in a positive pace,” said Bhushan. He added if the findings of NHA for 2014-15 and 2017-18 are compared, OOPE for government hospitals has declined by 50%.
Fall in OOPE of government hospitals
Officials said that if the findings of NHA for 2014-15 and 2017-18 are compared, out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) for government hospitals has declined by 50%.
