Dr. Kenneth E. Thorpe, Chairman PFC in conversation with Chahat Jain of BWBusinessworld says that Indian investment in healthcare sector is way below than other countries. The government only invests about 1% of the GDP and overall only 4% in healthcare. Over the next 5 years there should be a commitment between both public and private sector to increase the investment to 7-8% of GDP.
Dr. Thorpe agrees central government does provide funding to the states for healthcare sector but the states are primarily responsible for utilizing the funds and implementing the policies.
He further added that with the increase in number of NCD patients there will be a big reduction in worker productivity and lower the growth of GDP which will create difficulty in achieving major economic goals.
