National Health Policy, 2017 with All Details (Important)

The Union Cabinet approved the National Health Policy 2017. It will replace the previous policy which was framed 15 years ago in 2002. It aims at providing healthcare in an “assured manner” to all by addressing current and emerging challenges arising from the ever changing socio-economic, epidemiological and technological scenarios.

National Health Policy 2017

Highlights of NHP

  • It aims to raise public healthcare expenditure to 2.5% of GDP from current 1.4% , with more than two-thirds of those resources going towards primary healthcare.
  • It envisages providing a larger package of assured comprehensive primary healthcare through the Health and Wellness Centers.
  • It is a comprehensive package that will include care for major non-communicable diseases (NCDs) , geriatric healthcare, mental health, palliative care and rehabilitative care services.
  • It proposes free diagnostics, free drugs and free emergency and essential healthcare services in all public hospitals in order to provide healthcare access and financial protection.
  • It seeks to establish regular tracking of disability adjusted life years (DALY) Index as a measure of burden of disease and its major categories trends by 2022
  • It aims to improve and strengthen the regulatory environment by putting in place systems for setting standards and ensuring quality of healthcare.
  • It also looks at reforms in the existing regulatory systems both for easing drugs and devices manufacturing to promote Make in India and also reforming medical education.
  • It advocates development of mid-level service providers, public health cadre, nurse practitioners to improve availability of appropriate health human resource

Targets of NPP

  • It aims to ensure availability of 2 beds per 1000 population to enable access within golden hour. It proposes to increase life expectancy from 67.5 to 70 years by 2025.
  • It aims to reduce total fertility rate (TFR) to 2.1 at sub-national and national level by 2025.
  • It also aims to reduce mortality rate (MR) of children under 5 years of age to 23 per 1000 by 2025 and maternal mortality rate (MMR) to 100 by 2020.
  • It also aims to reduce infant mortality rate to 28 by 2019 and reduce neo-natal mortality to 16 and still birth rate to Single digit by 2025.
  • Achieve global target of 2020 which is also termed as target of 90: 90: 90, for HIV⟋AIDS i.e., - 90% of all people living with HIV know their HIV status, - 90% of all people diagnosed with HIV infection receive sustained antiretroviral therapy and 90% of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy will have viral suppression.
  • Achieve and maintain elimination status of Leprosy by 2018, Kala-Azar by 2017 and Lymphatic Filariasis in endemic pockets by 2017.
  • To achieve and maintain a cure rate of > 85% in new sputum positive patients for TB and reduce incidence of new cases, to reach elimination status by 2025.
  • To reduce the prevalence of blindness to 0.25⟋1000 by 2025 and disease burden by one third from current levels.
  • To reduce premature mortality from cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes or chronic respiratory diseases by 25% by 2025.

Health Systems Performance

  1. Coverage of Health Services
    • Increase utilization of public health facilities by 50% from current levels by 2025.
    • Antenatal care coverage to be sustained above 90% and skilled attendance at birth above 90% by 2025.
    • More than 90% of the newborn are fully immunized by one year of age by 2025.
    • Meet need of family planning above 90% at national and sub national level by 2025.
    • 80% of known hypertensive and diabetic individuals at household level maintain “controlled disease status” by 2025.
  2. Cross Sectoral goals related to health
    • Relative reduction in prevalence of current tobacco use by 15% by 2020 and 30% by 2025.
    • Reduction of 40% in prevalence of stunting of under-five children by 2025.
    • Access to safe water and sanitation to all by 2020 (Swachh Bharat Mission) .
    • Reduction of occupational injury by half from current levels of 334 per lakh agricultural workers by 2020.
    • National⟋State level tracking of selected health behaviour.

Health Systems Strengthening

  1. Health finance
    • Increase health expenditure by Government as a percentage of GDP from the existing 1.1 5% to 2.5% by 2025.
    • Increase State sector health spending to > 8% of their budget by 2020.
    • Decrease in proportion of households facing catastrophic health expenditure from the current levels by 25% , by 2025.
  2. Health Infrastructure and Human Resource
    • Ensure availability of paramedics and doctors as per Indian Public Health Standard (IPHS) norm in high priority districts by 2020.
    • Increase community health volunteers to population ratio as per IPHS norm, in high priority districts by 2025.
    • Establish primary and secondary care facility as per norm s in high priority districts (population as well as time to reach norms) by 2025.
  3. Health Management Information
    • Ensure district - level electronic database of information on health system components by 2020.
    • Strengthen the health surveillance system and establish registries for diseases of public health importance by 2020.
    • Establish federated integrated health information architecture, Health Information Exchanges and National Health Information Network by 2025.

Examrace Team at Aug 20, 2021