National Health Mission and the Status of Public Healthcare in Indian States

Abstract

This contribution makes the 18th part of the social change indicators series, a collation of available data on developmental issues. This note looks at the status of public healthcare through six select public healthcare infrastructure and workforce indicators in the post-NHM periods in the states of India. Abandoning the primary health care approach—where the state plays the primary role of planner and provider—perpetuated the inadequate public expenditure on health in India. The National Health Mission (NHM)—the largest health programme in India that was launched in 2005 to achieve universal access to equitable, affordable, and quality healthcare services—suffered through this. Public healthcare in India was in poor shape when the NHM was launched. Several key indicators have further deteriorated since then. A few indicators registered modest improvement during the first 10 years of the NHM, but even that has plateaued in the more recent period of 2014–2021. These sobering findings call for a renewed thrust on public investment in health for robust primary health care.