Former bureaucrat Jayaprakash Narayan asks -who cares about GDP growth when you don’t get affordable healthcare?
HYDERABAD, June 06 (The CONNECT) – As many as 6.3 crore Indians are being pushed into poverty by health expenses each year, according to former bureaucrat Dr Jayaprakash Narayan.
Many people are unable to access healthcare delivery as affordability is also a big issue, Dr Narayan, who is also the founder of Foundation for Democratic Reforms, said addressing a multi-stakeholder roundtable conference on Ethical Business Practices and Integrity in Healthcare through collective action.
“When people do not get access to quality healthcare, they are not worried about economic growth. And that was reflected in the recent poll verdict, which was a cry of despair,” he said.
The event was organised by UN Global Compact Network India, in collaboration with FTCCI, an outreach partner and Kapiti Group, a knowledge partner.
Dr Narayan pointed out that India spends just 1.2% of its GDP on Healthcare and despite long years of governance, successive governments couldn’t take it to even 2%. In comparison, he said, America spends 18% of its GDP and the UK spends about 12%.
He also stressed for a well-conceived professional regulatory mechanism.
Dr Ratnesh Jha, Executive Director, UN Global Compact Network India, said in his keynote address that his organisation is the custodians of Sustainable Development Goals in India. This round table was organised to explore ways to improve the accessibility of healthcare and to reduce corruption in it.
