Economic Survey: Govt spending on public healthcare rose 73% last year

Government expenditure on public healthcare in 2021-22 increased by 73% from a year ago to ₹4.72 lakh crore, according to the Economic Survey. "Although the pandemic has affected almost all social services, yet the health sector was the worst hit," said the annual survey report which was tabled in Parliament on Monday. "Expenditure on the health sector increased from ₹2.73 lakh crore in 2019-20 (pre-Covid-19) to ₹4.72 lakh crore in 2021-22 (BE), an increase of nearly 73%."

The Economic Survey, presented by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, also said that the government's spending on social services increased significantly during the pandemic. As per the survey, India has made significant progress in improving public health outcomes over the last two decades by eliminating polio, guinea worm disease, yaws and maternal and neonatal tetanus.

"As per latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5, social indicators such as total fertility rate, sex ratio and health outcome indicators, viz., infant mortality rate, under-five mortality rate, and institutional birth rates have improved over year 2015-16," it said.

According to the report, the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) showed that not only are services reaching the public, but the intended outcomes have also improved.

All child nutrition indicators have improved pan-India, it said, adding that the under-five mortality rate (U5MR) declined to 41.9 (per 1,000 live births) in 2019-21 from 49.7 in 2015-16. Infant mortality rate (IMR) declined to 35.2 per 1,000 live births in 2019-21 from 40.7 per 1,000 live births in 2015-16.

According to the report, stunting was down to 36% in 2019-21 from 38% in 2015-16. Wasting dropped to 19% in 2019-21 from 21% in 2015-16, and cases of underweight fell to 32% in 2019-21 from 36% in 2015-16.