MAHARASHTRA NEEDS TO INCREASE HEALTH SPENDING OVER Rs 74 BILLION BY 2018- IIHMR

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Pune, 27th Oct, 2015: Responding to rise in the Public Health Expenditure as according to the proposal made by the National Health Policy, International Institute of Health Management Research, Delhi held a press conference in Pune on 27th October, 2015 to highlight various needs, challenges and aspects influencing the government to spend
on the health sector in Maharashtra.
Maharashtra is the second largest state in terms of population in India where 45.2% people reside in urban areas with an income of over Rs.15,40,000 crores. However, with the growing urbanization there is a need to look at the growing healthcare costs as well.
Dr Ashok K Agarwal, Dean, IIHMR-Delhi, at the conference expressed, “According to the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) the average cost of hospitalization in India has risen from Rs. 8851 to Rs. 24436.The average cost of hospitalization in Maharashtra alone is Rs. 20,475 out of which 19.2% people have been utilizing the services of Public hospitals and 80.8% have been utilizing the services of private hospitals. According to Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the percentage distribution of Public Health Expenditure in Maharashtra alone is 8.70%, the highest after Uttar Pradesh.”
The Budget 2015-16 announced that the total spends in India for Department of Health and Family Welfare will be Rs. 29,653 crore. However, as per the Economic Survey in 2014-15, it was striking to notice that NRHM’s total outlay to enable universal access to quality health services in Maharashtra alone was Rs. 561.92 crore.
Dr. Agarwal also mentioned that, “According to the 2014 report of Directorate of Health Services, Govt of Maharashtra, the total Public Health institutes in the state are 12,821 these include the PHCs, Community Health Centers. There are various Medical services introduced by the NHM including a project under the name of Maharashtra emergency Medical Services where the total number of patients served were 1,84,390 between April to December 2014. Inspite of all these facilities available the total health spends in the state are a mere 0.48% out of the total income in the state is a cause of concern. As a result of which the out-of-pocket expenditure is higher causing a burden of high health cost felt by the middle and lower income segments in the state.”
According to the PHFI findings for MoHFW, nationally the skill gap is approximately 97.9% across various health workforce categories where, Maharashtra is the 2nd largest of the states witnessing skill gap with 5.65 lakh less paramedics. According to the Directorate of Health Services, Government of Maharashtra, the total number of attacks and deaths both sporadic and outbreaks upto December 2014-15 due to diseases such as Cholera, Gastro, Diarrohea, Hepatitis, Typhoid and Leptospirosis have been 10,16,050 and 21 respectively.
To overcome these health challenges, Maharashtra’s health budget needs to be a little more ambitious to overcome the lack of public health and public health facilities and fill in skill gaps of huge vacancies in Rural Hospitals and other hospitals as well as PHCs, especially of doctors, specialists and nurses, overcome gross inadequacy of drug supplies in public facilities, poor maintenance of public health facilities and key equipment etc. The state should also look at investing in Healthcare IT which is expected increase by CAGR of 13.4% during the forecast period of 2015 to 2020.
About IIHMR Delhi:
The International Institute of Health Management Research, New Delhi is part of the Society for Indian Institute of Health Management Research (IIHMR), which was established in October 1984 under the Societies Registration Act 1958. IIHMR Delhi was setup in 2008 with a focus on national and international health to cater to the growing needs of the country and the Asia-Pacific region. The institute undertakes capacity building of health professionals in a big way through the executive training programmes. The Institute offers a two-year full-time Postgraduate Programme with specialization in Hospital Management, Health Management and Health IT Management. It is a flagship educational programme which aims to develop trained professional managers with requisite skills in planning, implementation, operational management, diagnosing and problem solving, consultancy and entrepreneurship