World Bank presents its report to Finance Commission of India

On July 8, 2020, the World Bank submitted its report on Health, Nutrition and Population to the Finance Commission of India. It is to be noted that the finance commission is consulting the World Bank to decide on the allocation of funds for the health sector.

Highlights

The Finance Commission for the first time in its history is to include a special chapter on Health sector. Also, the Finance Commission is to increase its fund allocation to the health sector. In order to achieve this, the Finance Commission is consulting the World Bank.

Key Findings of the report

India’s health spending is 1% of its Gross Domestic Product and is one of the lowest in the world. The following were the key findings of the report

• Currently Indian Government is providing insufficient focus on public health functions such as testing, disease surveillance and contact tracing.
• There is inadequate attention to urban health systems besides weak public financing for health.
• Also, there are high levels of out of pocket financing for health.

Report on COVID-19

According to the report, conditions in India has worsened after COVID-19 crisis. The report found the following during COVID-19 lockdown

• Under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, hospitalization among the poor showed a decline of 64% during lockdown. During the lockdown, there were 25% fall in deliveries at hospitals and 64% decline in cancer care.
• Tuberculosis notification in April 2020 was 84% lower than that in April 2019. There were additional 95,000 deaths in the country due to COVID-19.
• The COVID-19 impact on India was the highest in Asia and it surpassed China as well.

Month: Current Affairs - July, 2020