National Health Accounts, 2001-02

National Health Accounts (NHA) is a tried and tested tool for summarizing, describing, and analyzing the financing of national health systems. The estimates prepared provide clues regarding the essential steps to be taken for better use of health financing to improve health system performance. A number of countries have started NHA in order to answer the policy questions on (a) Who pays and how much do they pay for health? (b) Who are the important actors in health financing and health care delivery and how significant are their contributions to total expenditure? (c) How are health funds distributed across different services, interventions, and activities that the health system produces? and (d) Who benefits from health expenditure? The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) established an NHA Cell in collaboration with World Health Organisation (WHO) and started work in this area in the year 2003. The Cell is also expected to facilitate capacity building on NHA in India. This is the first report of the Cell.