Does India really not have enough money to spend on healthcare?. Issue 1103 (10th May 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kamath, Sagarika; Kamath, Rajesh
• Is Part Of: Postgraduate medical journal. Volume 93:Issue 1103(2017)
• Page Start: 567
• Page End: 567
• Publication Date: 2017-05-10
• Subjects: HEALTH ECONOMICS; Medicine -- Periodicals; 610
• DOI: 10.1136/postgradmedj-2017-134997
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0032-5473

Abstract

ABSTRACT: It is often asked why the Indian government does not spend more on healthcare. India is at the bottom of the table on almost all human development indices and clearly needs to spend more on the health of its people. A lack of funding is often given as the reason for many unmet healthcare needs, but a careful look at India's budget suggests the contrary. The media tend to focus on the factors affecting GDP growth. It might be pertinent to ask, growth for whom? This seems to be an important question. Nobel laureate Amartya Sen has argued many times that growth has to lead somewhere, and that 'somewhere' should be an inclusive and equitable rise in living standards rather than an end in itself.1