There was a time when people from neighbouring Nepal and Bhutan used to come to thePatna Medical CollegeandHospital(PMCH) for treatment, but now even people from humble backgrounds think twice before getting their loved ones admitted despite the improvement in the over the years.
Though the government hospitals, which form barely 30% of the Health facilities in the state, are at the forefront of the fight against the Covid-19 virus yet the pandemic has exposedBihar’s creaky healthcare infrastructure.
In a state where the rural Population has an estimated Rs7000-8000 per capita income, even the poor have to spend around Rs2,000 on health while Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture contributes around 18% to the GDP.”
The health expenditure in Bihar increased from 4.35% of the total expenditure in 2016-17 to 6.08% in 2021-22 while its share in GSDP increased from 1.3% to 1.75% during the same period.
In general, per capita, health expenditure in Bihar is Rs 1,078 crore while total expenditure on Health sector has gone up to Rs13,265 crore in 2021-22 against Rs 5,493 in 2016-17.