THE ROLE OF HEALTH EXPENDITURE IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT-A CASE STUDY OF INDIA

Health is both a resource for and an outcome of substantial development. The goals of substantial development can be achieved only when the society is free from high prevalence of acute illness and poverty. Every nation strives for development. Economic progress is an essential component, but not, the only component. Since the 1960’s the concept of development has been transformed from a narrowly focused economic viewpoint to one stressing the social aspects and environmental sustainability of development. The quest to better integrate economic and social factors into development has given impetus to a strategy emphasising health, family planning services, nutrition, education, safe drinking water, sanitation, shelter, poverty eradication and environmentally sustainable economic growth. Therefore expenditure on health can be considered as an important indicator of development. This paper mainly focuses on relationship between health expenditures and sustainable development within economic and health indicators. In this paper gross domestic product (GDP), the basic health indicators, as infant mortality rate, life expectancy at birth, and other relevant health indicators are used. India’s health expenditures and the development indicators are compared with developed countries