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Health Policy in India: Some Critical Concerns

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The Palgrave International Handbook of Healthcare Policy and Governance

Abstract

It is ironic that a major emerging economy like India should have health indicators that are similar to those found in Kenya, Madagascar, and Myanmar (WHO, 2013), low-income countries with half or under half of India’s gross domestic product (GDP) per capita (World Bank, 2014). In 2011, the country’s infant and under-5 mortality rates (at 47 and 61 per 1,000 live births) were worse than those found in all other BRICS countries and among the worst third of all 195 WHO member countries (WHO, 2013; see also Chapter 6 by Benoit et al., and Chapter 12 by Asakitikpi). The estimated maternal mortality ratio (200 per 100,000 live births) fared only marginally better. Although these rates and ratios have fallen over time, they nevertheless translate, in a population of over 1.2 billion, into thousands of preventable deaths.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Harvard School of Public Health, USA

    Gita Sen (Adjunct Professor of Global Health and Population)

  2. Centre for Public Policy, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, India

    Aditi Iyer (Research Coordinator of the Gender and Health Equity Project)

Authors
  1. Gita Sen
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  2. Aditi Iyer
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Karolinska Institutet, Sweden

    Ellen Kuhlmann

  2. University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Robert H. Blank (Adjunct Professor) (Adjunct Professor)

  3. Institute of Population Health and the Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa, Canada

    Ivy Lynn Bourgeault (Professor) (Professor)

  4. University of Siegen, Germany

    Claus Wendt (Professor of Sociology of Health and Healthcare Systems) (Professor of Sociology of Health and Healthcare Systems)

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© 2015 Gita Sen and Aditi Iyer

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Sen, G., Iyer, A. (2015). Health Policy in India: Some Critical Concerns. In: Kuhlmann, E., Blank, R.H., Bourgeault, I.L., Wendt, C. (eds) The Palgrave International Handbook of Healthcare Policy and Governance. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137384935_10

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