Main description:

India is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. Yet health is not a part of our ambitious development story. In fact, India's disproportionately stingy healthcare budget makes some of the poorer nations look better in comparison. Statistics, however, speak louder than critics: we have one of the highest numbers of women dying in childbirth and under-five mortality rates. Every year nearly sixty million people get pushed below the poverty line due to the
health expenditures that they incur. But there are a few bright spots too: India has eradicated polio and reversed the incidence of HIV/AIDS by an impressive margin.

Drawing on her experience as the former union health secretary, K. Sujatha Rao gives us an unsparingly candid insider's view of India's health system. This richly detailed book favours increasing the health budget, greater use of technology, and providing leadership and good governance. Rao argues that unless good health is prioritized as a national goal, India's growth story will remain largely self-congratulatory.

Contents:

List of Tables, Figures, and Boxes
Preface
Acknowledgements
List of Acronyms
Part I: India's Health System: Challenges and Constraints
1: Evolution of India's Health System
2: Health Financing
3: Governance: Impacting the Health System
Part II: Implementing Policy: Successes, Failures, and the Road Ahead
4: Scaling Up to Reverse the HIV/AIDS Epidemic
5: Revitalizing Rural Primary Healthcare: The National Rural Health Mission
6: Making Our Future
Select Bibliography
Index
About the Author