The Hindu Business Line : Pvt sector allowed into primary healthcare

THE National Health Policy 2002, announced here on Friday against the backdrop of the post-TRIPS regime, envisages an increase in health spending from 5.2 per cent to 6 per cent of GDP.

Dr C.P. Thakur, Union Health Minister, told the media that the increase in health spending would see an increase in the Government contribution from 0.9 per cent to 2 per cent by 2010.

Allaying fears of rise in the price of medicines in the build-up to the post-TRIPS area in 2005, the Minister said a check would be kept on the increase in prices through monitoring agencies. He said the Patent Policy would take into consideration affordable access to the latest drugs and therapies.

The new Health Policy differed from the one announced in 1983, as it seeks to integrate the different public health programmes and earmark financial resources for the programmes besides setting a timeframe for review. Another significant feature of this year's policy is that it allows the private sector to get into the primary healthcare delivery system, only that they will have to dispense services free of cost, he said.

While the previous policy had achieved some of its targets in terms of bringing down infant mortality and increasing life expectancy, he pointed out that the global environment was changing and so was the nature of diseases in the country. Malaria and tuberculosis had re-emerged and the incidence of AIDS was also on the increase. Given this scenario, the policy envisages an increase in Government expenditure on medical research to 1 per cent of total health spending by 2005 and 2 per cent by 2010.

The policy also talks of a pilot scheme of social health insurance in a few representative districts to determine the requirements of resources both physical and financial.

A mention was also made on aligning food standards with the Codex specification and drug standards along the lines of those adopted worldwide.

The policy gives a thrust to the primary healthcare sector, earmarking an outlay of 55 per cent. About 35 per cent has been earmarked for the secondary sector and 10 per cent for the tertiary sector.

Against the backdrop of the John Hopkins issue in Thiruvananthapuram, the policy also states that a check would be kept on clinical trials.

Earlier on Friday, following an amendment to the AIIMS Act being passed by the Parliament, dental and nursing degrees given by the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences will now be recognised as medical qualifications.

The Ministry has also brought in a code of ethics for medical practitioners, besides making it mandatory for a stint in the rural areas.

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