Abstract
Public health services play an important role in the health status of the people and Health Expenditure by the Government occupies crucial part in influencing the health outcome in the country. The healthcare finances are influenced by the respective State's budgetary allocation which leads to inter-state disparity in health services and health status in India. This has implications on providing Universal Health Coverage, which aims at ensuring equitable health services to people at all levels in the country (National Health Portal, GoI). The researcher has selected 15 major states based on the level of population (which accounts for about 90 percent of the total population in India) to analyse the inter-state disparities in health sector. Alongside, this study focuses on the performance of public health sector of the selected states through a comparative analysis of various parameters depicting health expenditure, availability of health services, their utilization and health outcomes. With vast variation in the availability, affordability and utilisation of health services across different states, it is found that the economic conditions, health finance, infrastructure and effectiveness of health services at the state level have direct bearing on the health status of the people in the respective states. Therefore, it is essential to take necessary corrective measures that target the disparity, to achieve better and equitable health services for all, leading to Universal Health Coverage which is the real inclusiveness.
Highlights
Public Health Services play an important role in the health status of the people and Public Health Financing is one of the critical determinants that influence health outcomes in a country
This study focuses on the performance of public health sector of the selected states
Having more than 19 crore population, Uttar Pradesh has only 831 Government Hospitals which means one hospital for every 2.5 lakhs people (Table 3) which is unacceptable by all means. This vicious circle implies that the economic conditions, health finance and infrastructure at the state level have direct bearing on the health outcomes
Summary
Public Health Services play an important role in the health status of the people and Public Health Financing is one of the critical determinants that influence health outcomes in a country. Inter-state disparity in availability and utilization of public health services arises. This has implications on providing Universal Health Coverage, which aims at ‘ensuring equitable access for all Indians throughout the country to provide affordable, accountable and appropriate health services of assured quality with the government being the guarantor and enabler’ (National Health Portal, GoI). It is essential to study the differences in health services among the states which would assist to reduce the differences and make the health sector equitable in the country
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