Rural Health: The Neglected Sector of Economic Growth and Development Story in India

Health sector in India always remain in the background of its economic growth and development story. This is reflected in the meagre allocations to this sector which are then translated to very poor health outcomes at the international level. In India, only 4% of GDP is devoted to the health sector, the contribution of the Government expenditure is 1.4% of the GDP and the major portion of the health expenditure is in the form of out of pocket (OOP) expenditure. The IMR in India is 41.81 and it is ranked 174 among 224 countries. Besides relatively poor health outcomes at the international level huge differences are observed across different regions within India. On the one hand Kerala having IMR 12 is far ahead from Madhya Pradesh where IMR is 54. Similarly percentage of women receiving full antenatal care in Tamil Nadu is 45 and in Bihar it is only 3. There are widespread deviations in health infrastructure and health outcomes between the rural and urban areas of India. The rural urban gap is wider in the health sector of Indian economy. This is clearly depicted when we look at Crude Birth Rate of 23.7(Rural) and 18.0(Urban), Crude Death Rate of 7.7(Rural) and 5.8(Urban), Infant Mortality Rate of 54.7(Rural) and 33.7(urban), Under 5 mortality rate of 66.0(Rural) and 38.0(Urban) and percentage of deaths where medical attention received before death is 29.7(Rural) and 48.9(Urban). This gap in health outcomes is because of the poor health infrastructure and weak socio economic indicators i.e sanitation and education in rural areas. By addressing these issues it is expected that the rural health outcomes would improve and hence will contribute to the inclusive development of the Indian economy.