The draft National Health Policy 2015, released by the government to invite public comments, may pose formidable problems of implementation. The policy is an odd throwback to the language of the previous regime. It aims to make health a fundamental right, similar to education, the denial of which would be justiciable.A National Health Rights Act would assure universal access to primary healthcare and free drugs through public facilities. The implementation of the policy would require public health spending to rise to nearly 2.5 percent of the gross domestic product, from the present dismal one per cent, with the Centre bearing about 40 per cent of it.

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