2 years on, ministerial panel to take up health policy today

Around two years after the government came out with the first draft on the National Health Policy 2015, proposing health as a “fundamental right,” the projected policy is likely to see the light of day. The group of ministers (GoM) set up at the behest of the Prime Minister will deliberate on the new policy beginning Thursday.

The GoM set up under the chairmanship of external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj will hold their first meeting on Thursday. The other ministers include health minister J.P. Nadda, defence minister Manohar Parrikar, finance minister Arun Jaitley, railways minister Suresh Prabhu, minister for women and child development Maneka Gandhi and minister for Ayush. “The group will deliberate on the new policy, give their comments and if there is anything to be incorporated or changed, we will re-do it,” a senior official in the health ministry said.

The Union health ministry that put up the draft of national health policy on their website on December 31 2014, gave their final presentation in the PMO recently, after which the PM decided to constitute a GoM.

Suggesting to take the present level of public funding on health to 2.5 per cent of the GDP, the health ministry in their proposed policy has recommended increasing private participation, making manufacturing of devices easy for the Indian manufacturers and to bring in the state participatory approach. “There have been some apprehensions, which are expected to be cleared by the GoM. Once its cleared by the GoM, a proposal will be put up before the Cabinet,” said a senior official in the health ministry.

Significantly, the draft on which suggestions were invited from the stakeholders then suggested that “states would be able to voluntarily opt for this by a resolution.” With the proposed policy, the Centre aims to move towards making health a “fundamental right” in the way that has been done for education.

With health high on its agenda, the government is also exploring the possibility of creating a “health cess” to raise the necessary resources.

In its draft for the new national health policy 2015, the Union health ministry suggested that the following formulation: “the Centre shall enact, after due discussion and on the request of three or more states (using the same legal clause as used for the Clinical Establishments Bill) a National Health Rights Act, which will ensure health as a fundamental right whose denial will be justiciable”.