National Health Policy 2015
1. Introduction: Context, Need and Scope:
1.1. India today, is the world‟s third largest economy in terms of its Gross National Income (in PPP terms) and has the potential to grow larger and more equitably, and to emerge to be counted as one of the developed nations of the world. India today possesses as never before, a sophisticated arsenal of interventions, technologies and knowledge required for providing health care to her people. Yet the gaps in health outcomes continue to widen. On the face of it, much of the ill health, disease, premature death, and suffering we see on such a large scale is needless, given the availability of effective and affordable interventions for prevention and treatment. “The reality is straightforward. The power of existing interventions is not matched by the power of health systems to deliver them to those in greatest need, in a comprehensive way, and on an adequate scale".
1.2. This National Health Policy addresses the urgent need to improve the performance of health systems. It is being formulated at the last year of the Millennium Declaration and its Goals, in the global context of all nations committed to moving towards universal health coverage. Given the two-way linkage between economic growth and health status, this National Health Policy is a declaration of the determination of the Government to leverage economic growth to achieve health outcomes and an explicit acknowledgement that better health contributes immensely to improved productivity as well as to equity.
1.3. The National Health Policy of 1983 and the National Health Policy of 2002 have served us well, in guiding the approach for the health sector in the Five-Year Plans and for different schemes, Now 13 years after the last health policy, the context has changed in four major ways. Firstly- Health Priorities are changing. As a result of focused action over the last decade we are projected to attain Millennium Development Goals with respect to maternal and child mortality. Maternal mortality now accounts for 0.55% of all deaths and 4% of all female deaths in the 15 to 49 year age group. This is still 46,500 maternal deaths too many, and demands that the commitments to further reduction must not flag. However it also signifies a rising and unfulfilled expectation of many other health needs that currently receive little public attention. There are many infectious diseases which the system has failed to respond to – either in terms of prevention or access to treatment. Then there is a growing burden of non-communicable disease. The second important change in context is the emergence of a robust health care industry growing at 15% compound annual growth rate (CAGR). This represents twice the rate of growth in all services and thrice the national economic growth rate. Thirdly, incidence of catastrophic expenditure due to health care costs is growing and is now being estimated to be one of the major contributors to poverty. The drain on family incomes due to health care costs can neutralize the gains of income increases and every Government scheme aimed to reduce poverty. The fourth and final change in context is that economic growth has increased the fiscal capacity available. Therefore, the country needs a new health policy that is responsive to these contextual changes. Other than these objective factors, the political will to ensure
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universal access to affordable healthcare services in an assured mode – the promise of Health Assurance – is an important catalyst for the framing of a New Health Policy.
1.4. The primary aim of the National Health Policy, 2015, is to inform, clarify, strengthen and prioritize the role of the Government in shaping health systems in all its dimensions- investment in health, organization and financing of healthcare services, prevention of diseases and promotion of good health through cross sectoral action, access to technologies, developing human resources, encouraging medical pluralism, building the knowledge base required for better health, financial protection strategies and regulation and legislation for health.
1. Introduction: Context, Need and Scope:
1.1. India today, is the world‟s third largest economy in terms of its Gross National Income (in PPP terms) and has the potential to grow larger and more equitably, and to emerge to be counted as one of the developed nations of the world. India today possesses as never before, a sophisticated arsenal of interventions, technologies and knowledge required for providing health care to her people. Yet the gaps in health outcomes continue to widen. On the face of it, much of the ill health, disease, premature death, and suffering we see on such a large scale is needless, given the availability of effective and affordable interventions for prevention and treatment. “The reality is straightforward. The power of existing interventions is not matched by the power of health systems to deliver them to those in greatest need, in a comprehensive way, and on an adequate scale".
1.2. This National Health Policy addresses the urgent need to improve the performance of health systems. It is being formulated at the last year of the Millennium Declaration and its Goals, in the global context of all nations committed to moving towards universal health coverage. Given the two-way linkage between economic growth and health status, this National Health Policy is a declaration of the determination of the Government to leverage economic growth to achieve health outcomes and an explicit acknowledgement that better health contributes immensely to improved productivity as well as to equity.
1.3. The National Health Policy of 1983 and the National Health Policy of 2002 have served us well, in guiding the approach for the health sector in the Five-Year Plans and for different schemes, Now 13 years after the last health policy, the context has changed in four major ways. Firstly- Health Priorities are changing. As a result of focused action over the last decade we are projected to attain Millennium Development Goals with respect to maternal and child mortality. Maternal mortality now accounts for 0.55% of all deaths and 4% of all female deaths in the 15 to 49 year age group. This is still 46,500 maternal deaths too many, and demands that the commitments to further reduction must not flag. However it also signifies a rising and unfulfilled expectation of many other health needs that currently receive little public attention. There are many infectious diseases which the system has failed to respond to – either in terms of prevention or access to treatment. Then there is a growing burden of non-communicable disease. The second important change in context is the emergence of a robust health care industry growing at 15% compound annual growth rate (CAGR). This represents twice the rate of growth in all services and thrice the national economic growth rate. Thirdly, incidence of catastrophic expenditure due to health care costs is growing and is now being estimated to be one of the major contributors to poverty. The drain on family incomes due to health care costs can neutralize the gains of income increases and every Government scheme aimed to reduce poverty. The fourth and final change in context is that economic growth has increased the fiscal capacity available. Therefore, the country needs a new health policy that is responsive to these contextual changes. Other than these objective factors, the political will to ensure
4
universal access to affordable healthcare services in an assured mode – the promise of Health Assurance – is an important catalyst for the framing of a New Health Policy.
1.4. The primary aim of the National Health Policy, 2015, is to inform, clarify, strengthen and prioritize the role of the Government in shaping health systems in all its dimensions- investment in health, organization and financing of healthcare services, prevention of diseases and promotion of good health through cross sectoral action, access to technologies, developing human resources, encouraging medical pluralism, building the knowledge base required for better health, financial protection strategies and regulation and legislation for health.
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