2017 policy, a roadmap for quality primary care
Coming after more than a decade, the National Health Policy 2017, unveiled by the Union Government on Thursday, is undoubtedly a milestone in the history of public health in the sense that it lays down the foundation for a new, bold roadmap to provide for improved, affordable, and qualitative healthcare for the citizens of this country in an assured manner. Given the rise of both communicable and non-communicable diseases like tuberculosis, typhoid, diabetes, malaria etc, and also India's poor ranking — 143rd among 188 countries — in a global health study, the new policy offers fresh hopes and an opportunity for the Government to rectify past inadequacies, improve India's poor health standing and also eliminate well-known diseases through a stronger national health mission. However, problems are aplenty. At the very outset, the Government has appreciated that there must be universal health coverage, and for that it has given an estimate to spend about 2.5 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) by 2025. Though the GDP estimates are nowhere close to the World Health Organisation's recommended standards of five per cent of the GDP, the figures are better as compared to the UPA Government’s spending of two per cent of the GDP — of which a large part remained unutilised. It is not just the quantum of GDP percentage but how well it is utilised, that matters.
However, experts have expressed concerns. First, they are of the view that the Government should have gone further to make health a fundamental right of every citizen. Second, they argue that the Government is concentrating more on primary healthcare for the moment. While both these suggestions may sound good on paper, that there is at least a robust national health policy, is enough to begin with. Simply making health a fundamental right does not automatically mean that everyone will get access to that. After all, implementation holds the key. A living example is the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, which aimed to provide free and compulsory primary education to individuals in the country. However, the Act by itself has not improved the quality of primary education or achieved the set target. Simply making something mandatory by way of law does not end matters. Yes, it is true that the national health policy focus is on primary healthcare, but the fact of the matter is that India lacks infrastructure. The number of doctors working in hospitals, especially in rural areas, is abysmally low. Although India claims to be the largest producer of doctors in the world, but in reality there exists a wide gap between the doctor and patient numbers. Therefore, the need of the hour for the Government is to first address a major lacuna: The non-availability of healthcare professionals. As the new policy indicates, the role of private players is crucial to have a fully functional healthcare facility in the country. Both private players and the Government must now work in tandem.