Let's plan for national health

The health of a nation is a reflection of the health of the people. The health of a nation is a composite variety of health indicators, of which the chief are infant mortality rate, maternal mortality rate, and life expectancy. The Health of India lags behind that of many nations both developed and developing, something which the Government has been trying to improve for the last 64 years. Obviously our country needs to divert more resources to health than the amount countries ahead of us do. Yet, there is the problem that resources are limited and many other developmental works are all vying for them. The country is caught in a bind: The poor health of the people demands more resources, yet shortage of resources means that no more can be allocated to health. In this situation, the Ayurveda Yoga-Naturopathy Unani Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) health systems can certainly play an important role in providing inclusive, affordable, and accessible healthcare services to millions of people. In the Eleventh Five Year Plan (FYP), Government spending on health was below 1% of the Gross domestic product (GDP), a figure the government admits was dismally low. This of course, should not be confused with the total health expenditure, which stands at around 4.5 to 6% of the GDP. Most expenditure on health comes from Thus, private spending formed almost four fifths of the total health expenditure. As against the 1% that the government spends on health, developed countries spend as much as 10 to 16% of their GDP, most of which is from the government or sponsored plans. The Planning Commission admits that India's health indicators are not improving as fast as other socioeconomic indicators. Maternal mortality stands at 3.01 / 1000 as against a target of 1 / 1000, Infant mortality rate stands at 58 / 1000 against the targeted 28 / 1000. Good healthcare is perceived to be either unavailable or unaffordable. This is one of the challenges that the planning Commission hopes to address in the Twelfth FYP. One of the first proposals is to increase the allocation for health. It is proposed to allocate 2.0 to 2.5% of the GDP to health. This figure is still way behind developed countries, but represents a marked improvement over the last plan. One of the most laudable actions of the Commission has been to invite suggestions from the people for formulating the …