An analysis of equity between urban and rural health services using Benefit Incidence Analysis (BIA), a tool to estimate the equity of healthcare benefits accrued to individuals across socio-economic groups, has found that public spending has not resulted in significantly pro-poor services in India.
The paper titled ‘Benefit Incidence of Public Health Expenditure in India: Urban–Rural Equity Matters for Universal Health Coverage’ has been published in the Journal of Health Management, a Sage Journals publication.
A team of researchers led by faculty from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and M.S. Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences used data from the 75th National Sample Survey (NSS) round done in 2017-2018 for the analysis. Disease burden, out-of-pocket expenses, and non-utilisation of public health services for outpatient and inpatient care were analysed. Concentration curves and indices were calculated for rural and urban areas.
Public health spending
“This article represents the most recent BIA completed in India and presents an analysis of the distribution of public spending in outpatient and inpatient care. The results help illustrate the extent of the effectiveness of resource allocation on public health by the government in meeting the needs of vulnerable populations,” said Denny John, professor - Public Health, Faculty of Life and Allied Health Sciences at M.S. Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences in Bengaluru.
