Only a healthy nation can be a wealthy nation
But as per 2022-23 BE, Total Health expenditure by Combined Centre and States = only 2.1% of GDP[1]
¶ Out of pocket(OOP) expenses[2]
According to the estimates of the World Health Organization (WHO) report from March 2022
Over 17% households incurring catastrophic levels of health expenditures every year
70% of OOP expenses are derived from out patient care*, especially medicines
55 million Indians annually go into poverty due to high OOP expenditure on health
*Out patient care = Medical services performed without admission to a hospital
¶ Covid Impact & still only recovering [3]
- Although consumption expenditure is expected to grow 7.7 per cent in FY23 but is highly skewed in favour of consumption largely by the middle class and rich households
The share of bottom 20 population in total household disposable income
- 6.5% in pre-Covid
- down to 3% during Covid-19
- again up to 4.5% now
(surveys from 2016, 2021 and 2023 showed)
i.e. majority of bottom 40% households still on the recovery of purchasing power
Because they are currently managing their consumption and also paying the consumption related debt which took during the pandemic
¶ Private Sector[2:1]
Private:
-> 90% of medicines dispensed
-> 68% of ~15,097 hospitals
-> 37% of ~625,000 hospital beds
-> 85% of all X-ray machines & CT scanners
-> 80% of all MRI & Ultrasonography machines
¶ Govt[2:2]
As per 2022-23 BE, Total Health expenditure by Combined Centre and States = only 2.1% of GDP[1:1]
Below graph shows how India is a laggard in Health Expenditure, even among fellow developing countries
Below graphs show how Govt share in even the abysmal total health expenditure is so low i.e. mostly driven by profit hungry private investments[4]
Share of All government(Center + State)'s health expenditure has reached 40.6 per cent in FY19[4:1]
¶ Hospital Beds[2:3]
Shocking state of affairs, considering number of Hospital Beds per 10,000 population
-- 2/3rd of Bangadesh
-- 50% of Indonesia
-- 10% of Beds in China
Hospital Beds in Last 2 decades
-- China increased its beds to 2.5x per 10,000 population
-- India showed ZERO growth in num of beds per 10,000 population
Above Data included Hospital Beds by Private, what if only Govt hospitals
¶ Health Workers[2:4]
India’s health workforce was estimated at 5.7 million in 2018
| Density of Health Workers | per 10,000 population | Private |
|---|---|---|
| Doctor | 8.6 | 80% |
| Nurses | 17.7 | 70% |
| Pharmacists | 8.9 | |
| Ayush/Ayurveda | 90% | |
| Dental | 90% |
¶ Rural vs Urban
| Area Type | Population Share | Healthcare workers |
|---|---|---|
| Rural | 71% | 36% |
Number of Doctors per 10,000 population
-- Less than even Srilanka
-- 45% of Doctors in China
-- 40% of Brazil
References:
https://news.abplive.com/india-at-2047/india-healthcare-spending-looks-up-following-covid-pandemic-lowest-among-brics-nations-neighbours-1579245 ↩︎ ↩︎
https://apo.who.int/publications/i/item/india-health-system-review ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
https://www.price360.in/articles-details.php?url=india-in-all-its-spender ↩︎
https://news.abplive.com/business/budget/economic-survey-2023-nirmala-sitharaman-govt-health-expenditure-share-in-gdp-increases-highlights-1579106 ↩︎ ↩︎
