National Health Account Estimates 2019-20

Table of Contents☰

What’s in today’s article?

Why in News?
National Health Accounts (NHA)
Major Findings of NHA Estimates 2019-20
Comparing India’s Government Health Expenditure with other Countries’
Way Ahead

Why in News?

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has released the National Health Account Estimates 2019-20.

National Health Accounts (NHA)

Report on National Health Accounts Estimates is published by the National Health Systems Resource Centre (NHRSC) under the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
The NHA for 2019-20 is the seventh round of estimates since 2013-14.
It is based on the globally accepted framework of ‘System of Health Accounts, 2011’ for inter-country comparison and learning.
System of Health Accounts (SHA) was originally developed by the World Health Organization (WHO).
SHA is an internationally standardized framework that systematically tracks the flow of expenditures in the health system.
NHA provides detailed information on overall health expenditure both by the public and private sector in the country.

Major Findings of NHA Estimates 2019-20

Government Expenditure on Health –

Image Caption: Govt. Expenditure on Health
- During this period, the share of Government Health Expenditure (GHE) in the overall GDP of the country has increased from 1.13% in 2014-15 to 1.35% in 2019-20.
- In per capita terms, GHE has doubled from Rs. 1,108 to Rs. 2,014 between 2014-15 to 2019-20.
Out-of-Pocket Expenditure (OOPE) –
- The share of Out-of-Pocket Expenditure (OOPE) in total Health Expenditure (THE) declined from 62.6% to 47.1%.
- The continuous decline in the OOPE in the overall health spending show progress towards ensuring financial protection and Universal Health Coverage for citizens.
- The increase in government spending on health has an important implication for the reduction of financial hardship endured by households.
- In the Total Health Expenditure (THE) of the country between 2014-15 and 2019-20, the share of GHE has increased from 29% to 41.4%.
Social Security Expenditure (SSE) –
- Another positive trend in the country’s health financing space is the increase in Social Security Expenditure (SSE) on healthcare.
- This increase in social security has a direct impact on reducing out-of-pocket payments.
- A robust social security mechanism ensures that individuals will not face financial hardship and the risk of poverty as a consequence of accessing essential healthcare services.
- The share of SSE on health, which includes government-funded health insurance, medical reimbursement to government employees, and social health insurance programs, in THE, has increased from 5.7% in 2014-15 to 9.3% in 2019-20.

Comparing India’s Government Health Expenditure with other Countries’

As per the NHA estimates for 2019-20, India spends 1.35% of total GDP on public health expenditure.
Compare this with countries like the United Kingdom, Netherlands, New Zealand, Finland and Australia where all these countries spend over 9% of their total GDP in public healthcare system.
Neighbouring countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan have over 3% of their GDP going towards public healthcare system.

Way Ahead

Increasing public spending on health –
- An efficient and equitable health system cannot be developed without adequate public financing.
- The National Health Policy (2017) recommends government expenditure on health to be increased to 2.5% of GDP by 2025.
Improve Doctor-to-Patient ratio –
- As of February 2021, India’s doctor-to-population ratio stood at 1:1404, while the WHO recommends the doctor-to-population ratio to be 1:1000.
- For people in the rural India who are completely dependent on government healthcare facilities, the doctor to patient ratio is abysmally low with 1:10,926 doctors.
Optimizing the use of technology –
- Technology-enabled community health workers, nurses and other frontline care providers can perform many functions in primary care.

Q1) What is the meaning of tertiary health care?

Tertiary care, is a level above secondary health care, that has been defined as highly specialized medical care, usually provided over an extended period of time, that involves advanced and complex diagnostics, procedures and treatments performed by medical specialists in state-of-the-art facilities.