In the recent five years, the outlay of India on its healthcare services has surged to growth of 17 percent each year. Following the occurrence of pandemic, increase in speed of spending on healthcare is observed. The portion of healthcare expenditure out of India’s GDP has approximately increased to about 1.9 percent in the financial year 2024 compared to the previous expenditure of 1.3 in the financial year 2019.

Government expenditure on Healthcare
The major part of the government spending is channeled in the direction of social health security schemes like healthcare insurances and also on primary health care services. In the past few years, the Indian government’s expenditure has increased in programmes such as medical compensation and also health care insurances. Schemes such as Ayushman Bharat aids poor people in relieving their health expenditure burden.

Comparison with global healthcare spending
India’s spending on healthcare is comparatively lower than several developed and emerging economies. These countries spend in a range of 4 to 18 percent out of their GDP on healthcare services. India’s spending on healthcare infrastructure and workforce such as nurses, doctors, hospital beds, etc is quite less than the international standards.

Though it seems quite low in terms of spending on healthcare, it is important to look at differences in the situation of India and other countries across the globe. The Chairman of Narayan Hrudayalay, Devi Prasad Shetty states that the advanced countries have a big tax base. It helps these advanced countries to have large funds to spend on a large number of healthcare facilities and services. Another reason is the difference in population size. Several nations have smaller populations compared to India’s large population. It gives them an advantage to give access to free healthcare facilities to all. This step is difficult for India to take because of its huge population as well as its sparse resources.

Steps for improvement in healthcare
India should focus on creating an affordable healthcare environment for the population. It should increase the number of social security schemes like health insurance and the healthcare workforce base. The Indian government should focus on establishing healthcare care infrastructure and work on further expanding it. It should also take steps towards increasing the workforce base working in the healthcare sector. This can help India to fulfil the rising demand for healthcare service in the nation.

Expected growth in healthcare sector
From the year 2016, Indian healthcare observed an average annual growth of about 22 percent. It is expected to hit the record of about 670 billion dollars in the year 2026 compared to 370 billion dollars in the year 2022. The reason for the hike is increasing demand for advanced healthcare facilities.

Contribution of Private Hospitals
In the Indian healthcare services, the contribution of private hospitals is remarkable. According to the Apollo Hospitals, the portion of treatment given by private hospitals in terms of worth is expected to increase by about 69 percent in the financial year 2027 compared to the earlier 63 percent in the financial year 2020.

The reason for people relying on private hospitals and its services is more due to their plans of expansion. However, private healthcare services are usually expensive. The Indian government should take steps towards giving stimulus to private hospitals in order to provide low cost facilities to the people. It is also to initiate hiring of healthcare workforce at a faster speed. Overall, it helps the private sector to give healthcare facilities at an economical value.