Per capita health expenses in India only at Rs 3900

NEW DELHI: The per capita expenditure on health in India in 2012 was 58 US dollars (Rs 3900) as against 88 and $ 108 in other developing countries like Sri Lanka and Indonesia respectively.

"As per World Health Statistics 2015 brought out by World Health Organisation (WHO), the per capita total expenditure on health (at average exchange rate) in India was 58 US dollars in 2012 as compared to the select developing countries like China (US dollars 322).

"(It was in )Indonesia (US dollars 108), Malaysia (US dollars 418), Nigeria (US dollars 93), Pakistan (US dollars 34), the Phillippines (US dollars 115), Sri Lanka (US dollars 88) and Thailand (US dollars 247)," Health Minister J P Nadda told Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

He said that as per project population of India 2011-2016 by the office of Registrar General of India and public health expenditure estimates, the per capita public expenditure on health for 2014-15 (RE) and 2015-16 (BE) has been estimated to be Rs 1117.65 and Rs 1202.26 respectively as compared to Rs 906.21 in 2013-14 (actual).

Nadda had in April said that the total expenditure on health as percentage to GDP for India in 2012 was merely 4 per cent compared to poorest countries like Burundi which had around nine per cent.