The primary aim of the National Health Policy, 2015, is to inform, clarify, strengthen and prioritize the role of the Government in shaping health systems in all its dimensions investment in health, organization and financing of healthcare services, prevention of diseases and promotion of good health through cross sectoral action, access to technologies, developing human resources, encouraging medical pluralism, building the knowledge base required for better health, financial protection strategies and regulation and legislation for health.

Objectives:-

• Improve population health status through concerted policy action in all sectors and expand preventive, promotive, curative, palliative and rehabilitative services provided by the public health sector.
• Achieve a significant reduction in out of pocket expenditure due to health care costs and reduction in proportion of households experiencing catastrophic health expenditures and consequent impoverishment.
• Assure universal availability of free, comprehensive primary health care services, as an entitlement, for all aspects of reproductive, maternal, child and adolescent health and for the most prevalent communicable and non-communicable diseases in the population.
• Enable universal access to free essential drugs, diagnostics, emergency ambulance services, and emergency medical and surgical care services in public health facilities, so as to enhance the financial protection role of public facilities for all sections of the population.
• Ensure improved access and affordability of secondary and tertiary care services through a combination of public hospitals and strategic purchasing of services from the private health sector.
• Influence the growth of the private health care industry and medical technologies to ensure alignment with public health goals, and enable contribution to making health care systems more effective, efficient, rational, safe, affordable and ethical.

Specific Objectives:-

• Providing universal access to quality health care services 
• delivery of health care services to socially vulnerable population group
• Promote research on tribal medicines 
• establish public health management cadre in each state 
• ensure public hospitals provide universal access to drugs and diagnostics 
• regulate use of medical devices for quality compliance 
• envision increasing the life expectancy to 70 years from 67.5 
• set up tribunals for redresal of grievances 

Focus Areas:-

• Higher weightage given to states with poor health indicators…states will be incentivized to increase public health expenditure..
• Preventive health care focused engaging private sector 
• Reduce out of pocket catastrophic health expenditure by household by 25% 
• Increase the utilization of public health facilities by 50% from current level by 2025
• Health card an electronic health card records of individual 
• National strategic plan for tuberculosis elimination 2017-25.. kale azar by 2017 leprosy by 2018 
• 25% reduction in premature mortality by 2025 
• Access to safe water and sanitation by 2020

However some concerns remains:-
1. No Right to Health (Art.21):- May lead to laxity by Govt with respect to implementation
2. Silent on Health Governance:-On bringing Health under concurrent list (from state list) on similar lines as education, and NHSO can’t work effectively without it
3. Spending still lower than other comparable nations:- (Mexico – 6.2%, China -5.6%,Brazil -9.7%)
4. Less focused other health-related aspects like mental health, genetic disorders (WHO highlighted the concern)
5. Flawed one-size fits all approach regarding allocation of resources (India Can learn from UK, uses ‘a weighted capitation formula’ that accounts for a locality’s socio-economic characteristics to equitably allocate funds).

Conclusion:-

Thus policy aims to move away from sick care to wellness. It places thrust on prevention and health promotion and attempt to reorient, strengthen public health systems. It looks afresh at strategic purchasing from private sector & leveraging their strengths. Its full potential will be realized to the benefits of Indians if some concerns are addressed.