Health-Care Reform

• The National Health Policy of 1983 and the National Health Policy of 2002 have been useful in directing the health sector’s approach in the Five-Year Plans. However, the context has altered dramatically in the 14 years since the last health policy.

Goal

• Through a promotive and preventive healthcare orientation in all developmental programmes, and universal access to quality health care services without financial hardship, policy aims to achieve the best possible level of health and wellbeing for all people of all ages. This would be accomplished through increasing access to healthcare, improving its quality, and lowering its cost.
• The policy also acknowledges the importance of the Sustainable Development Goals. At the end of this section, there is a list of possible time-bound quantitative targets that are associated with national initiatives as well as global strategic directions.

Important Policy Principles:

• Professionalism, Ethics, and Integrity: The health policy envisions the highest professional standards, integrity, and ethics being upheld across the healthcare delivery system, with a transparent, responsible, and credible regulatory framework to back it up.

• Equity: Addressing disparity requires affirmative action to reach the poorest millions. It would reduce inequity caused by poverty, gender, handicap, caste, and other types of social exclusion, as well as geographical barriers. It would ensure that the poorest people, who bear the brunt of disease burdens, receive more investments and financial protection.

• Affordability: As healthcare costs rise, affordability, as opposed to equity, becomes more important. Catastrophic household healthcare expenses, defined as spending on health that exceeds 10% of total monthly consumption expenditures or 40% of non-food consumption expenditures, are unacceptable.

• Universality refers to the prevention of social, economic, or health-related exclusion. Systems and services are envisioned in this scenario to meet the needs of the entire population, including particular groups.
• Gender-sensitive, safe, effective, and convenient health care services must be given with dignity and privacy. To ensure that the quality of healthcare is not compromised, standards and guidelines must be developed and disseminated at all levels of facilities and infrastructure.
• Responsibility in the healthcare sector, both public and commercial hospitals, includes financial and performance accountability, transparency in decision-making, and the elimination of corruption.
• Inclusive Partnerships: A multi-stakeholder approach involving all non-health ministries and stakeholders in collaboration and involvement. Partnerships with not-forprofit organisations, academic institutions, and the healthcare business are all possibilities.
• Pluralism: Patients would have access to AYUSH health care providers based on documented and valid home, local, and community-based practices if they so desired. These systems would also benefit from government research and oversight in order to improve and expand their contribution to reaching national health aims and objectives through integrated practices.
• Decentralisation refers to the process of decentralising decision-making to a level that is compatible with practical concerns and institutional capabilities. Participation of the community in health planning processes should be encouraged.

• Dynamism and Adaptiveness: the dynamic structure of healthcare is constantly improved based on new information and evidence, with learning from communities and national and international knowledge partners.

Quantitative Goals and Objectives that are Specific: 

Three main components frame the indicative, quantitative goals and objectives.

• Life expectancy and living a healthy lifestyle. 

• • By 2025, the average life expectancy at birth will have risen to 70 from 67.5.
  • By 2022, establish regular tracking of the Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALY) Index as a measure of illness burden and trends across main categories.
  • By 2025, the total fertility rate (TFR) at the national and sub-national levels will be reduced to 2.1.

• Death Rates by Age and/or Cause   

• • Reduce the number of children under the age of five who die by 2025 to 23 and the MMR to 100 by 2020.

• • By 2019, IMR will be reduced to 28. 

• • By 2025, neo-natal mortality will be reduced to 16 percent and the stillbirth rate will be in the single digits.

• Reduction in the prevalence and incidence of disease

• • 90 percent of all people living with HIV know their HIV status, 90 percent of all people diagnosed with HIV infection receive sustained antiretroviral therapy (ART), and 90 percent of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) will have viral suppression by 2020, according to the global target of 90:90:90 for HIV/AIDS.
  • Kala-Azar elimination and maintenance by 2017, Lymphatic Filariasis in endemic pockets by 2017, and Leprosy elimination and maintenance by 2018.
  • To achieve and maintain a cure rate of more than 85% in new sputum positive patients with tuberculosis, as well as to reduce the frequency of new cases, with the goal of eliminating tuberculosis by 2025.
  • By 2025, the prevalence of blindness will be 0.25 per 1000 people, and the illness burden will be cut in half.
  • By 2025, we want to reduce premature mortality from cardiovascular illnesses, chronic respiratory diseases, and cancer by 25%.