New body for National Health Policy deliberations

Almost two years after the government came out with the first draft of the National Health Policy 2015, there seems to be some headway on the proposed policy. In a recent meeting in the PMO, the Prime Minister has constituted a group of ministers (GoM) to deliberate on the proposed policy and make appropriate changes before it is finally sent to the Cabinet.

The Union health ministry, which 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 including senior ministers like external affairs minister, defence minister, finance minister, women and child development (WCD) minister, Union health minister and Union HRD minister.

Suggesting to take the present level of public funding on health to 2.5 per cent of GDP, the health ministry in their proposed policy has recommended increasing private participation, making manufacturing of devices easy for 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 proposed the possibility of creating a “health cess” to raise the necessary resources.

In its draft of 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”.