NEW DELHI: Seventy per cent of India's population have no health insurance and the country is short by two million beds compared with the global benchmark. This has been revealed in a whitepaper released by a leading health sector body on Tuesday.
The report 'Aarogya Bharat 2015', released by NATHEALTH, calls for increase public spending on healthcare to 2.5 per cent to 3 per cent of GDP and apportion a greater share of public spending to prevention, including mass screenings and primary care coverage by 2025.
NATHEALTH has been created to improve access and quality of healthcare and has leading Healthcare, Medical Technology, Diagnostic service providers and Health Insurance Companies as stakeholders.
"Increased investment in healthcare would create a 'win-win' scenario by increasing the number of years that Indians can be productive and healthy, thereby fueling a continuous cycle of economic growth. Fewer sick days translates to increased productivity, higher employment and an estimated 15 million to 20 million additional jobs in the country by 2025," said Karan Singh, head of Bain's healthcare practice in Asia-Pacific and co-author of the report.
The body also introduced a unique initiative of an 'Ethics Pledge', a declaration by the industry leaders across diverse healthcare segments in partnership with Indian Medical Association (IMA), to build a robust and transparent platform to promote ethical practices in the healthcare ecosystem.
"India can adopt universal access to essential healthcare driven by private sector-led provision with the Government playing the role of primary payer and provider in remote and underserved areas," said Anjan Bose, Secretary General of NATHEALTH.
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