Understanding health politics of india for galvanizing public health

Abstract

Health and politics cannot be thought of in isolation as they are intertwined. In India, politics is the center point and has affected health since independence. The post-independence era witnessed austerity in politics and the health subject was in a disarray. From recommendations of Bhore committee to launch and implementation of various health programs, politics has played an important and inevitable role. And the importance of those programs also varied as per the needs and priorities of the government which led to their success. Various flagship programs are launched in the current government since 2014, which need critical appraisal and subtle analyses in terms of strength, weakness, opportunity, and threats. India has spent 90% of government's expenditure on the revenue side in comparison to less than 2% on health, which shows that though health has been declared as the priority by the government in many of their manifestos, in reality, its implementation is far-fetched. The government in power should strategize more investment in health and prioritize the issues as per the population needs and not as per the political inclination. The government needs to form a strong alliance with various other agents in public health because the factors influencing health outcomes mostly fall outside their direct jurisdiction.

Keywords

• health politics
• india
• politics
• public health