Budget 2018: Govt may raise health spending by 11%, less than requested

BUDGET 2018 - India is poised to raise its public health spending by 11 per cent in the annual budget next month, after rejecting Health Minister JP Nadda's demand for a much bigger increase to ramp up disease control, according to government sources and documents.

Nadda sought a "bare minimum" budget of nearly $10 billion for 2018-19, which is 33 per cent higher than last year, in a letter to the finance minister on Nov. 26, which Reuters has reviewed.

Nadda argued the funds were needed for expanding vaccination coverage, free drugs distribution, and also to ward off a growing threat of non-communicable diseases, such as cancer and diabetes, which killed 6 million people in India in 2016.

His request was not approved: the health budget is expected to rise by 11 per cent to $8.2 billion, three government officials told Reuters. They declined to be named or be identified further as the discussions were confidential.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government last year set a target of raising annual health spending to 2.5 percent of India's GDP by 2025, from 1.15 percent now - one of the lowest proportions in the world.

The health budget this year will put that pledge at risk.

"What's the point of having a (2025) GDP target? With this funding, it still looks like a herculean task," said one of the officials interviewed.