Private health sector growth 'static', says NITI Aayog's V K Paul

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Calling for expanding the private health sector, V K Paul, member-health NITI Aayog, said on Wednesday that the growth in private health space had been static at a time when the health infrastructure needs to be ramped up in the country.

He said schemes such as the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission are a game-changer and private hospitals must join the program. “I request you to introspect and think. We have to. Can we look at what models in the private sector should now emerge?” Paul added.

Prime Minister Jan Arogya Yojana would increase its ambit. “PM-JAY is here to stay, and it is the main vehicle for secondary and tertiary care and therefore we have to reposition ourselves to align with this.”

He said the model should shift from a high return, low volume to a high volume and modest return. “Let us not have the people of India be left out of this universal health coverage because we cannot set the machine right. Let’s together set it right, reposition and refine the scheme,” Paul said.

Praising the private sector hospitals for their work during the pandemic, Paul said that even though the public sector did its part, the best critical care across the nation often came from the private sector.

He asked the private sector to visualize the next six or nine months to build important building blocks for improving the health infrastructure of the country.

The country has one hospital bed per thousand. It has to be increased to at least 2 hospital beds per thousand, he said.

He called on the state governments to increase their budgets on health care — from the current 4-4.5 percent to almost 8 per cent.

Asking companies to send suggestions for the upcoming Budget, he said: “We are together to see that the health sector receives allocation in the spending paradigm of state and centre.”