Industry & Economy
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Economic Survey
More spending must for healthcare sector
Our Bureau
New Delhi
,
July 7
IN line with the recommendations of the Common Minimum Programme (CMP), the Economic Survey has reiterated the need for larger spending in healthcare services.
The Survey states that larger investments in the health sector will be needed to maintain the technology required for tackling resistant infections and non-communicable diseases which is expensive and results in escalation of healthcare costs. The National Health Policy, 2002, had envisaged increasing public health investment from 0.9 per cent of GDP to 2 per cent of GDP.
At present, there is an imbalance in the healthcare delivery system that needs to be rectified, the Survey indicates. It points out that while there is a plethora of hospitals run by the Government, voluntary and private sectors, very few are located in areas with high morbidity. Also, several hospitals lack appropriate manpower, diagnostic and therapeutic services, drugs and facilities are poorest in the remote rural areas.
In order to reduce these imbalances, the focus areas of the Tenth Five Year Plan include reorganisation and restructuring of the existing healthcare infrastructure at primary, secondary and tertiary levels, besides proper utilisation of funds. The Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojna (PMSSY), which proposes to develop six AIIMS-like institutes in backward States could also reduce these gaps, said the Survey.
It has also stated that a major thrust will be given to mainstream the Indian Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy (ISM&H) with focus on improvement and upgradation of standards of education in ayurveda, yoga, unani, siddha and homeopathy, standardisation of drugs and quality and ensuring sustained availability of raw materials.
On health insurance, the Economic Survey has said that besides the public sector insurance companies, some State governments have taken initiatives to formulate health insurance for people below the poverty line.
The Survey has also expressed concern about the increasing number of HIV/AIDS infected persons but also adds that programmes to control tuberculosis, malaria and leprosy have been yielding results. Population is another issue that needs to be addressed.
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