GDP gallops but spending on public health schemes shrinks

2 Mar, 2011 0402hrs IST TNN[ Rema Nagarajan ]

Belying the celebration in the budget of a “remarkable fiscal year” and the return of the economy to “its pre-crisis growth trajectory”, some of the most crucial public health programmes have suffered slashed budgets. In a few cases, the allocation has been increased but by a laughably small amount compared to the much-lauded increase in GDP and in the enhanced allocation to the health ministry. The aam admi seems to have been shortchanged in healthcare.

The country’s GDP is estimated to increase by 37% from 2009-10 to 2011-12 and the allocation for the health ministry has increased by 33% in the same period. Yet, the allocation for the various national disease control programmes has gone down by 14% over these two years from Rs 1,933 crore to Rs 1,664 crore.

Despite the latest National Family Health Survey revealing that the coverage of the universal immunization programme is a mere 43.5%, way below even half the target population, even the budget for routine immunization has gone down from Rs 618 crore in 2009-10 to Rs 511 crore in the current budget.

This is when over 26 million children are born in the country every year who need to be covered by the routine immunization programme which protects them against six diseases. India accounts for over 21% of under-five deaths in the world.

Paradoxically, the National Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme, which is meant to track incidence of diseases, detect disease trends and risk factors and also help to devise public health strategies to tackle them, has seen an increase in its allocation. But the money to tackle the diseases being tracked by this programme has gone down.

Quite inexplicably, despite the increase in the incidence and the geographical spread of vector borne diseases such as malaria, dengue, chikungunya and Japanese encephalitis, the budget of the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme has been reduced from Rs 568 crore to Rs 437 crore. Even the TB control programme’s funds have been cut down, even as a large number of patients are struggling to get expensive second line treatment for drug resistant TB. The only public health programme that has been enhanced significantly is the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Diabetes, Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke. The funding for this programme has been more than doubled.

But considering the amount involved is just Rs 20 crore, that’s not saying much.

With such poor allocations, there is great concern among public health experts about the ability of these already underfunded public health programmes to effectively address the needs of the poorest who are the most susceptible to ill health.