Description:
While high levels of political commitment to improve health outcomes in the state have ensured that Andhra Pradesh (AP) ranks fourth among the category of twenty-one large states in the NITI Aayog Health Index, the health sector is challenged by an epidemiological transition with rising incidence of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). The state has made significant achievements in the last five years in almost all key maternal and child health indicators. Despite these improvements, prevalence of diarrhea and acute respiratory infections (ARIs) among children under five years appears to be on the rise. Wide inter district variations in the health outcomes indicate challenges in equity and access. Since tax-financed government revenues are essential for progress toward universal health coverage (UHC), and efficient allocation and use of such revenues is more critical in resource-constrained environments, the state government agreed to undertake an assessment of public financial management (PFM) systems within the health sector. In recognition of this agenda, an assessment of the potential for achieving better alignment between the PFM and health systems was undertaken in August 2022. AP was the first state in India for the assessment