New Delhi: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan urged the states to increase healthcare spending to a minimum right per cent of the budget so as to achieve the targeted public health expenditure of 2.5 per cent of the GDP by 2025.
Inaugurating the 13th Conference of the Central Council of Health and Family Welfare (CCHFW), Harsh Vardhan said that it is imperative to implement this percentage.
“From the first CCHFW meeting to today, we together have achieved several health milestones, especially India being certified Polio-free. This has been possible because of our collaborative efforts. If all Health Ministers from the states come together for a cause, no task can be impossible,” asserted Vardhan.
It should be stated here that Health Ministers from only 13 states attended CCHFW conference.
Harsh Vardhan stated that the purpose of the CCHFW meeting is to build a consensus on the national health priorities like Universal Health Coverage (UHC) through Ayushman Bharat, eliminating tuberculosis and other priority agenda such as strengthening medical infrastructure.
“This can be achieved by collective increase in healthcare spending by the states/UTs to meet the goals of healthcare spending of National Health Policy 2017 – 2.5% of GDP by 2025,” Vardhan said.
“Health needs to become a social movement across India and the ‘Eat Right and Fit India’ movements need to be taken up by states and UTs in a synergised manner to ensure a healthy and robust India,” pointed out the Union Health Minister.
Vardhan also urged the Health Minister of Uttar Pradesh, who is also the Finance Minister of the state, to increase the health budget of the state and set an example for the rest to emulate.
PTI