Economic Survey: Tackling child and maternal malnutrition still a massive challenge
Child and maternal malnutrition continues to be the most challenging risk factor for health loss in India, the Economic Survey said on Monday.
It listed air pollution, dietary risks, high blood pressure and diabetes as other key health risk factors facing the country.
The Survey noted however that there has been significant improvement in the health status of the individual as life expectancy at birth has increased by approximately 10 years from 1990 to 2015.
Limited affordability and access to quality medical services are however among the major challenges contributing to delayed or inappropriate responses to disease control and patient management, said the Economic Survey for 2017-18, tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
The share of out of pocket expenditure (OoPE) on health stands at a staggering 62% and adversely impacts the poorer sections and widens inequalities, it said.
While the expenditure by the government healthcare providers accounted for about 23 % of the Current Health Expenditure (CHE) as per National Health Accounts 2014 -15, the share of private hospitals and clinics stood at 31 %.
The findings of household health expenditure survey in India indicate that about 10 % of OoPE on health was spent by households on diagnostics (including medicines and diagnostic …read more
