UPSC Prelims 2023 Question:

Consider the following statements

Statement-I: India's public sector health care system largely focuses on curative care with limited preventive, promotive and rehabilitation care.

Statement-II: Under India’s decentralized approach to healthcare delivery, the states are primarily responsible for organizing health services.

Which one of the following is correct in respect to the above statements?

Explanation:

• The National Health Policy (NHP) of India, 2017, focuses on improving health outcomes through coordinated policy actions across sectors. It emphasizes the expansion of preventive, promotive, curative, palliative, and rehabilitative services within the public health sector, ensuring the quality of these services. The policy aims to achieve universal health coverage, providing access to quality healthcare services without financial hardship for individuals.
  
  
• Key objectives include raising public health expenditure to 2.5% of GDP, promoting comprehensive primary healthcare through Health and Wellness Centers, and improving access to secondary and tertiary care. The policy also highlights collaboration with the private sector for strategic purchasing and capacity building and prioritizes investment in emerging diseases and promotive and preventive healthcare. So, statement 1 is correct. 
  
  

• Under India’s decentralized approach to health care delivery, the states are primarily responsible for organizing health services, since public health is a subject under the State list of the 7th Schedule. Both statements are correct but Statement-II is not the correct explanation for Statement-I. So, statement 2 is correct. 
  
  

Therefore, option (2) is the correct answer. 

Subject: Polity | Governance