The minister highlighted that the National Health Policy (NHP) 2017 envisions public investment in health reaching 2.5% of India’s GDP by 2025. While the country is still progressing toward this goal, recent data show a significant upward trajectory in government health spending.
Since health is primarily a state subject, the Ministry has urged state governments to allocate at least 8% of their total budget to the health sector.
Jadhav also noted that the 15th Finance Commission has provided Rs 70,051 crore for health grants to local governments for the period 2020–21 to 2025–26.
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The questions were raised by Shri Vijay Kumar Hansdak, seeking clarity on the target set by the National Health Policy with regard to the allocation of funds for the health sector in the country. He asked for the details regarding Budget Estimates (BE) vis-à-vis Actual Expenditure (AE) on the health sector and its utilization in percentage terms, year-wise.
He seeks to know whether the Government has any plans to enhance resources for the health sector for improving the healthcare to global standards, and in proportion to the rate of population growth; and
Furthermore, he inquired, if so, the details thereof, and if not, the reasons therefor?
Also Read:Health Sector Budget Allocation as Percentage of GDP Declining: Parliamentary Panel
In response to these queries, Prataprao Jadhav stated that as per the National Health Policy, 2017, public investment in health is envisioned to reach 2.5% of GDP by 2025. The Government initiatives in this direction are evident from the National Health Accounts Estimates in India, where there has been an increase in Government spending on health as a percentage of Total Health Expenditure (THE), which was 29.0% in 2014-15 and 48% in 2021-22. Correspondingly, Government Health Expenditure (GHE) as a percentage of GDP has increased from 1.13% in 2014-15 to 1.84% in 2021-22. GHE as a share of GDP from FY 2019-20 to FY 2021-22 is given in the following table: | FY | GHE as a %of GDP |
| 2019-20 | 1.35 |
| 2020-21 | 1.60 |
| 2021-22 | 1.84 |
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has taken up with States to prioritize allocation to the health sector and enhance their health budgets at least by 8% of the total State budget to reach the goal as envisaged.
The budget allocation for the Department of Health & Family Welfare (DoHFW) has increased by 102.64%, from Rs. 47,353 crore in 2017-18 (BE) to Rs. 95,957.87 crore in 2025-26 (BE).
Further, the 15th Finance Commission, for the grant period from 2020-21 to 2025-26, has provided Rs. 70,051 crore Grants for health through the Local Governments. The government is making continuous efforts to increase allocation in the health budget, added the Minister.
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