Budgetary Expenditure on Health and Human Development in India

Abstract EN

This study aims at analyzing the differentials across rich and poor states and across rich and poorer strata and rural urban segments of 19 major Indian states.

The study indicates that besides individual health financing policies of the respective state governments, there are significant disparities even between rural and urban strata and rich and poorer sections of the society.

These are indicated by high inequality coefficients and an emerging pattern of life style second generation health problems as well as levels of utilization of both preventive and curative care both in public and private sectors.

Our results emphasise that there is a need to increase public expenditure on health, improve efficiency in utilization of existing public facilities, and popularize government run health insurance schemes meant primarily for the poor.

These steps may help to mitigate partly the inequitable outcomes.