Aiming to touch spending in healthcare at 2.5% of GDP by 2025: Mansukh Mandaviya

The Health Minister said that the government made healthcare accessible and affordable via the Ayushman Bharat scheme. (File photo)

India aims to increase its expenditure towards the health sector to 2.5 percent of its GDP by 2025, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on September 27.

Mandaviya was speaking at Sanjeevani, a CSR initiative by the Federal Bank Hormis Memorial Foundation.

"India aims that by 2025 the health expenditure will be at 2.5 percent of GDP. By 2025, India also aims to make the country free of tuberculosis," he said.

The minister said that the health ministry has charted out the next 25 years' roadmap and if we are able to plan out ways to avert future challenges, India will become a developed country.

"If we can address the challenges that we will face 25 years from now, then we will become a developed country. Any government should plan for the roadmap for 25 years in the health sector," he said.

Mandaviya said that the government made health accessible and affordable through the Ayushman Bharat scheme. "As many as 1.60 lakh health and wellness centres have been built across the country. MBBS and post-graduate seats, medical colleges have been doubled in last 9 years so that doctors are available at 1.60 lakh health and wellness services centres," he said.

Emphasising that health is not commerce for India, Mandaviya said that trade margins have been fixed for as many as 42 cancer medicines. Also, during the pandemic, India decided not to increase the prices of Covid-19 vaccine.

"A few countries, which were manufacturing Covid vaccine were stocking it. India decided not to increase the vaccine prices and distributed these to 150 countries," he said.