 | Indian Health System | |
Health sector in India is the responsibility of the state, local and also the central government. But in terms of service delivery it is more concerned with the state. The center is responsible for health services in union territories without a legislature and is also responsible for developing and monitoring national standards and regulations, linking the states with funding agencies, and sponsoring numerous schemes for implementation by state governments. Finally, both the center and the state have a joint responsibility for programs listed under the concurrent list.
About three-fourth of the expenditure on public health is incurred by the state or local governments and the remaining one-fourth of the total expenditure is spent by the central government.
The government (state, local or central) provides publicly financed and managed curative and preventive health services from primary to tertiary level, throughout the country and free of cost to the consumer. These account for about 18% of the overall health spending and 0.9% of the GDP. However, a fee-levying private sector that plays a dominant role in the provision of individual curative care through ambulatory services accounts for about 82% of the overall health expenditure and 4.2% of the GDP. It has been found that private health services are directed mainly at providing primary health care and financed from private resources, which could place a disproportionate burden on the poor.
Goals and strategies for the public sector in health care are established through a consultative process involving all levels of government through the Central Council for Health and Family Welfare. The outcomes of these processes provide a thrust to various sub sectors within the health sector. The private and voluntary sectors have emerged as an important arm of the health sector.
There has been a significant development in the health sector in India in the recent years. The central government in association with the states is initiating various programmes and projects to improve efficiency in the allocation and use of health resources through policy and institutional development.
State health projects have been formulated for developing the rural health standard and strengthening the PHC (Public Health Clinic) infrastructure, under the minimum needs programme, by providing enhanced assistance to regions with severe health problems, supporting voluntary organizations, and improving IEC activities. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is continuously coordinating with the states to make significant improvement in this regard.
