The Role of Universal Health Coverage in Human Development: from an Indian Perspective

Nagaraja K.; Dr. B. P. Veerabhadrappa

Volume : VIII, Issue : III, March - 2019

The Role of Universal Health Coverage in Human Development: from an Indian Perspective

Nagaraja K. , Dr. B. P. Veerabhadrappa

Abstract :

Universal Health Coverage is one of the key goals of Sustainable Development Agenda –2015. In the context of India, over 62.4% of total expenditure is out of pocket borne by the masses on private healthcare compared to the global average of 18.62% in spite of the government spending about 1.4% of GDP. As a result, the government has taken the several measures to ensure the comprehensive and quality healthcare services to everyone under Universal Health Coverage (UHC) through its various schemes including the latest health scheme “Ayushman Bharat – 2018.” In this backdrop, this paper attempts to examine about the status of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and its impact on human development in India. In terms of findings, this paper found that the government currently spends about 1.4% of GDP on health sector and there has not been much progress met as expected by 12th five year plan relating to reduction of Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) 25, Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) 100 and Total Fertility Rate (TFR) 2.1. Lastly, this paper suggested increasing the government expenditure on healthcare currently from 1.4% to 2.5% and India is needed to adopt the suitable supply and demand interventions to reduce high out–of pocket expenditure.