MYSORE, Sept 23: Observing that the country’s public expenditure on health is only 1.2 per cent of GDP, President Pranab Mukherjee today said there is a need to increase spending in the key sector to provide better health and nutritional security to the people.
“Public expenditure on health in India is 1.2 per cent of GDP. This is much lower than the 4 per cent plus levels in countries like US, UK, Australia, Norway and Brazil,” Mukherjee said after inaugurating the new hospital building of Jagadguru Sri Shiva-rathreeshwara (JSS) Maha-vidya-peetha here.
“There is a need to increase our spending in the health sector. …If we want our nation to progress; to be counted as one of the advanced countries in the world, we have to build our soft power,” the President said.
Emphasising the need for investing adequately in the country’s population, he said, “We have to enhance people’s capabilities ensuring health and nutritional security, providing quality education and ensuring a decent standard of life.”
“The right question is to ask whether India can afford not to invest in ensuring these basic constituents of living. The answer is no if we want peace, stability and prosperity,” he said.
The President said as public resources have several pressing uses, private healthcare providers have to be encouraged and suitably engaged to provide quality healthcare services.
Mukherjee also spoke about the commercial system driven by profits in the health sector. He reminded medical educational institutions of their responsibility in building good medical practitioners with a strong sense of patriotism and social responsibilities.
“There are doctors who want to undergo higher studies in premier institutions abroad to acquire greater expertise and widen their horizon. They deserve encouragement. At the same time, they have to remember that the nation has invested in their education. Wherever they go, they have to retain their sacred bond with their motherland,” he said.
The President asked medical practitioners to respect the good faith and trust that people have bestowed upon them.
“Doctors have to remember always the true meaning of the Hippocratic Oath that they took on entering this noble profession,” he said.
Mukherjee said technology has to be harnessed in healthcare to increase access to quality medical treatment. He also emphasised the need for having a large pool of high calibre doctors in the country to strengthen the medical profession.
Citing studies, the President said that investments in preventive public health are both pro-poor and pro-growth.
“Our health coverage strategy has to look beyond medical cure and intervention. Preventive healthcare has to assume importance due to the increasing trend of lifestyle diseases,” he said.
“A healthy India is possible. For that, disease prevention, early detection and treatment have to be encouraged. A healthy living has to be fostered,” Mukherjee said.
Karnataka Governor H R Bhardwaj, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, and Union Minister Oscar Fernandez also spoke at the function at the JSS Maha-Vidya-Peetha.
The Peetha was set up in 1954 by Dr Shivarathri Rajendra Mahaswamiji of Jagadguru Veera Simhasana Peetha of Suttur, a revered one thousand-year old Peetha. (PTI)
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