India's health reforms: the need for balance

On Sept 23, 2018, the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, launched extensive health reforms.1 The reforms are to be welcomed because for decades India has underinvested in health, never spending more than 1% of its gross domestic income on its public health system.2 It has always been surprising...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Lancet (British edition) 2018-10, Vol.392 (10154), p.1174-1175
Main Author: Brundtland, Gro Harlem
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ban Ki Moon
Democracy
Health care access
Health insurance
Households
Modi, Narendra
Politics
Primary care
Prime ministers
Public health
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Summary:On Sept 23, 2018, the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, launched extensive health reforms.1 The reforms are to be welcomed because for decades India has underinvested in health, never spending more than 1% of its gross domestic income on its public health system.2 It has always been surprising that health and access to health care have been given such a low political priority in the world's biggest democracy. [...]we heard directly from key government officials that one of the primary objectives of the Ayushman Bharat reforms was to increase rates of hospital admissions among the poor so that they are similar to rates in India's more affluent population. The scale-up of the health and wellness centres is, by contrast, a much slower process. [...]given the eye-catching cap of INR 500 000 worth of hospital care per family per year,3 there is a likelihood that many households will see this as their annual entitlement, which they ought to spend.
ISSN:0140-6736
1474-547X
DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32387-0