Vardhan urges states to raise healthcare spending by at least 8 pc of budget

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Thursday urged the states to increase healthcare spending to a minimum 8 per cent of the budget so as to achieve the targeted public health expenditure of 2.5 per cent of the GDP by 2025.

Inaugurating the 13th Conference of the Central Council of Health and Family Welfare (CCHFW), Vardhan said, "From the first CCHFW meeting to today, we together have achieved several health milestones, especially India being certified Polio-free. This has been possible because of our collaborative efforts. If all health ministers come together for a cause, no task can be impossible."

Health Ministers from 13 states attended the conference.

Vardhan stated that the purpose of the CCHFW meeting is to build a consensus on the national health priorities like Universal Health Coverage (UHC) through Ayushman Bharat, eliminating tuberculosis and other priority agenda such as strengthening medical infrastructure.

"This can be achieved by collective increase in healthcare