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Operationalising Right to Healthcare in India Paper presented at the 10 th Canadian Conference on International Health Ottawa 28 th October 2003. Ravi Duggal Centre for Enquiry into Health and Allied Themes www.cehat.org. Healthcare in India. Entitlements by policy and not rights
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Operationalising Right to Healthcare in IndiaPaper presented at the 10th Canadian Conference on International HealthOttawa 28th October 2003 Ravi Duggal Centre for Enquiry into Health and Allied Themes www.cehat.org
Healthcare in India • Entitlements by policy and not rights • Focus on preventive and promotive care • Grossly under-provided facilities • Poor investments hitherto • Declining public expenditures and new investments • SAPping the healthcare system
RURAL (per 1000 population) Hospital Beds = 0.2 Doctors = 0.6 Public Expenditures = Rs.80,000 Out of pocket = Rs.750,000 ____________________ IMR = 74/1000 LB U5MR = 133/1000 LB Births Attended = 33.5% Full Immunz.=37% Median ANCs=2.5 URBAN (per 1000 population) Hospital Beds = 3.0 Doctors = 3.4 Public Expenditures = Rs.560,000 Out of Pocket = Rs.1,150,000 ____________________ IMR = 44/1000 LB U5MR = 87/1000 LB Births Attended = 73.3% Full Immunz.= 61% Median ANCs=4.2 Rural-Urban Disparities – India
Expenditure Patterns • Public expenditures –declining trends • LPG and growth of private capital and stagnation of public investment • Reduced public spending • Out of pocket – increasing burden, especially the poor and in rural areas
Character of Health Expenditures • Public Domain • Rural/Urban divide • Preventive/Curative dichotomy • Plan/Non-plan expenditures • Centre, State and Local governments • Private Domain • Curative only- pharma industry driving force • Irrational practices, malpractice, unregulated, lack of professional ethics • Supply induced demand
Facts & Figures - Health Spending • Public Domain • Centre: Rs.35 bi (0.13% GDP) • State: Rs.186 bi (0.72% GDP) • Local: Rs.25 bi estimated (0.10% GDP) • Social Insurance: Rs. 12 bi (0.05% GDP) • Private Domain • Out-of-pocket: Rs.1200 bi (4.62% GDP) • Insurance (public sector) Rs.8 bi (0.03% GDP) • Pharma Industry Rs. 250 bi (0.96% GDP)
Basic Care Framework • What constitutes basic health services • Family physician services, supported by paramedics and community health workers • First level referral hospital with basic specialties and ambulance services • Epidemiological services, including information management and health education • Maternity services for safe pregnancy, abortion, delivery and postnatal care • Immunisation services against vaccine preventable diseases • Pharmaceutical and contraceptive services
Operational Mechanism • Restructuring and Reforms • Organising a system • Creating an autonomous health authority • Referral system • Standards and regulation • Structured financing
Operational Mechanism... • Priorities for making it work • An Act of Parliament - Health Authority • Tackling the medical profession • Licensing, registration, minimum standards • Integration of systems • Continuing medical education • Pricing mechanisms • Raising substantial additional resources • Consensus building in civil society
Financing the System • Resource Requirements • Present public spending on health care is less than 1% of GDP and out-of-pocket is 4% • Reorganised system will need totally 3% of GDP • Costs will be shared by governments at all levels, employers, employees, earmarked taxes and cesses, insurance funds etc..
Innovations in Financing • Using existing resources efficiently and effectively • Decentralised governance (Panchayati Raj) • Block funding or global budgeting • Leads to equity in access to resources • PHC level resources tripled • CHC and district level resources doubled
Innovations in Financing… • Generating additional resources • Increased allocations within the existing budget • Payroll taxes for health like profession tax • Health cess on health degrading products, polluting industry and luxury products • Compulsory public service by those graduating from public medical schools • Social security levies on land revenues
Consensus Building • Policy level advocacy for UHC • Research to develop framework • Lobbying with medical profession • Filing of PIL for RTHH • Lobbying MPs to demand justiciability of directive principles • National and regional consultations on RTHH involving civil society
Consensus Building… • Campaigns on RTHH with networks of people’s organisation • Bringing RTHH on manifestoes of political parties • Pressurising international bodies like Committee of ESCR, WHO,UNCHR.. And national bodies like NHRC, NCW.. To monitor state obligations and demand accountability • Shadow reports on RTHH
Summary and Conclusions • Rural – Urban disparities across the board • Reduced investments and expenditures on health care in the nineties has impacted access and health outcomes • Allocative inefficiencies coupled with SAP only makes the crises of public healthcare worse • Overall health outcomes not very good because of the worsening access to healthcare –user charges and privatisation • Lack of accountability • The need for a right to healthcare perspective