Does More Funding Mean Better Health? A State-Level Analysis of Public Health Expenditure in India

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-894-3_12How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Public Health Expenditure; Health Indicators; High Performing States; Under Performing States; Fixed Effect Model; Random Effect Model

Abstract

In an effort to enhance government health expenditures and improve state-level health facilities, the Central Government of India adopted the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000, launched the National Health Mission (NHM) in 2013, and most recently implemented the National Health Policy (NHP) in 2017. This study looks at how public health spending affects important health outcomes, such as the infant mortality rate, neonatal mortality rate, fertility rate, and malaria cases. It takes into account per capita income and spending on water supply and sanitation. The research examines 16 major states from 2000 to 2021. Additionally, it compares the effects of public health spending in both high-performing and under-performing states. The study used secondary data from the Sample Registration System (SRS), Economic Political Weekly Research Foundation (EPWRF), and the annual RBI state finances report. Based on the Hausman test, the study uses panel fixed-effects and random-effects models where suitable. Empirical findings show that overall public health spending decreases malaria cases, infant mortality, and neonatal mortality rates. The study also finds no significant impact between Public health spending and health outcomes, especially in under-performing states. Indian states should boost capital health spending to improve health infrastructure and consider public-private partnerships. This is important for achieving better health outcomes. This study provides key suggestions for shaping public health policy in developing countries.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Vivek Babbar
AU  - Jitender Bhandari
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/11/10
TI  - Does More Funding Mean Better Health? A State-Level Analysis of Public Health Expenditure in India
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Policies, Processes and Practices for transforming Underdeveloped Economies into Developed Economies (PPP-UD 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 163
EP  - 179
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-894-3_12
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-894-3_12
ID  - Babbar2025
ER  -