India lags behind the world's poorest country in spending on health facilities

New Delhi, dated 11 October 2020, Sunday

Compared to other countries, India's record in spending on health globally has turned out to be very poor. Even India lags behind Pakistan in this regard.

As part of Oxfam's 2020 Index 2020, a survey of 158 countries found that only 26 countries spend 15% or more of their total budget on health. India spends less than 4% of its budget on health. India ranks 155th out of 158 countries in the Health Spending Index.

India's post-health budget ranks fourth among the lowest budget countries in the world. Even the most essential services are provided to barely half of India's population.

Burundi is one of the poorest countries in the world. It also spent 8.5 per cent on health in 2017. India spent 3.4 per cent of its budget on health during this period, while Pakistan spent four per cent, Nepal and Bangladesh five per cent.