National Health Policy, 2017 approved by Cabinet
Focus on Preventive and Promotive Health Care and
Universal access to good quality health care services
The
Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in its meeting
on 15.3.2017, has approved the National Health Policy, 2017 (NHP, 2017). The
Policy seeks to reach everyone in a comprehensive integrated way to move
towards wellness. It aims at achieving universal health coverage and
delivering quality health care services to all at affordable cost.
This Policy looks at
problems and solutions holistically with private sector as strategic partners.
It seeks to promote quality of care, focus is on emerging diseases and investment
in promotive and preventive healthcare. The policy is patient centric and
quality driven. It addresses health security and make in India for drugs and
devices.
The main objective of
the National Health Policy 2017 is to achieve the highest possible level of
good health and well-being, through a preventive and promotive health care
orientation in all developmental policies, and to achieve universal access to
good quality health care services without anyone having to face financial
hardship as a consequence.
In
order to provide access and financial protection at secondary and tertiary care
levels, the policy proposes free drugs, free diagnostics and free emergency
care services in all public hospitals.
The policy envisages
strategic purchase of secondary and tertiary care services as a short term
measure to supplement and fill critical gaps in the health system.
The Policy recommends
prioritizing the role of the Government in shaping health systems in all its
dimensions. The roadmap of this new policy is predicated on public spending and
provisioning of a public healthcare system that is comprehensive, integrated
and accessible to all.
The NHP,
2017 advocates
a positive and proactive engagement with the private sector for critical gap
filling towards achieving national goals. It envisages private sector
collaboration for strategic purchasing, capacity building, skill development
programmes, awareness generation, developing sustainable networks for community
to strengthen mental health services, and disaster management. The policy also
advocates financial and non-incentives for encouraging the private sector
participation.
The policy proposes
raising public health expenditure to 2.5% of the GDP in a time bound manner.
Policy envisages providing larger package of assured comprehensive primary
health care through the Health and Wellness Centers'. This policy denotes
important change from very selective to comprehensive primary health care
package which includes geriatric health care, palliative care and
rehabilitative care services. The policy advocates allocating major proportion
(upto two-thirds or more) of resources to primary care followed by secondary
and tertiary care. The policy aspires to provide at the district level most of
the
secondary care which is currently provided at a medical college hospital.
The
policy assigns specific quantitative targets aimed at reduction of disease
prevalence/incidence, for health status and programme impact, health system
performance and system strengthening. It seeks to strengthen the health,
surveillance system and establish registries for diseases of public health
importance, by 2020. It also seeks to align other policies for medical devices
and equipment with public health goals.
The
primary aim of the National Health Policy, 2017, is to inform, clarify,
strengthen and prioritize the role of the Government in shaping health systems
in all its dimensions- investment in health, organization and financing of
healthcare services, prevention of diseases and promotion of good health
through cross sectoral action, access to technologies, developing human
resources, encouraging medical pluralism, building the knowledge base required
for better health, financial protection strategies and regulation and progressive
assurance for health. The policy emphasizes reorienting and strengthening the
Public Health Institutions across the country, so as to provide
universal access to free drugs, diagnostics and other essential healthcare.
The broad principles of the policy is
centered on Professionalism, Integrity and Ethics, Equity, Affordability,
Universality, Patient Centered & Quality of Care, Accountability and
pluralism.
It seeks to ensure
improved access and affordability of quality secondary and tertiary care
services through a combination of public hospitals and strategic purchasing in
healthcare deficit areas from accredited non-governmental healthcare
providers, achieve significant reduction in out of pocket expenditure due to
healthcare costs, reinforce trust in public healthcare system and influence
operation and growth of private healthcare industry as well as medical
technologies in alignment with public health goals.
The policy affirms
commitment to pre-emptive care (aimed at pre-empting the occurrence of
diseases) to achieve optimum levels of child and adolescent health. The policy
envisages school health programmes as a major focus area as also health and
hygiene being made a part of the school curriculum.
In order to leverage
the pluralistic health care legacy, the policy recommends mainstreaming the
different health systems. Towards mainstreaming the potential of AYUSH the
policy envisages better access to AYUSH remedies through co-location in public
facilities. Yoga would also be introduced much more widely in school and work
places as part of promotion of good health.
The policy supports
voluntary service in rural and under-served areas on pro-bono basis by
recognized healthcare professionals under a 'giving back to society’
initiative.
The policy advocates
extensive deployment of digital tools for improving the efficiency and outcome
of the healthcare system and proposes establishment of National Digital Health
Authority (NDHA) to regulate, develop and deploy digital health across the
continuum of care.
The
policy advocates a progressively incremental assurance based approach.
Background:
The National Health
Policy, 2017 adopted an elaborate procedure for its formulation involving
stakeholder consultations. Accordingly, the Government of India formulated the
Draft National Health Policy and placed it in public domain on 30th
December, 2014. Thereafter following detailed consultations with the
stakeholders and State Governments, based on the suggestions received, the
Draft National Health Policy was further fine-tuned. It received the
endorsement of the Central Council for Health & Family Welfare, the apex
policy making body, in its Twelfth Conference held on 27th February,
2016.
The last health policy
was formulated in 2002. The socio economic and epidemiological changes since
then necessitated the formulation of a New National Health Policy to address
the current and emerging challenges.
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