The National Health policy will provide free medicines and 'assured' health services to all and aims to reduce out of pocket health expenditure, Health minister J P Nadda said on Thursday.

He said the newly unveiled policy unlike the earlier one stresses on 'preventive and promotive' health care and also has a 'target-oriented' commitment for elimination of diseases for which an implementation framework has also been envisaged.

The policy envisages the creation of National Health Care Standards Organisation which will formulate guidelines and protocols for healthcare while there is a provision of establishing a separate empowered tribunal for speedy resolution of disputes and complaints, the minister said.

"In order to provide access and financial protection at secondary and tertiary care levels, NHP 2017 proposes free drugs, free diagnostics and free emergency care services in all public hospitals," he said.

"Every one in the country will be given assured health services. Every section of the society belonging to any financial status, whosoever comes to our public health facility, will get assured services. This policy is patient centric and the patient has been empowered, Nadda told reporters.

The Health Minister said that under the policy, family health card will be made which will be connected to Public Health care facility so that a patient's history can be digitally accessed.

"There will be a periodic measurement of all the health institutions, both public and private which has been envisaged in the policy. What is their (institution's) grading, facilities provided and their quality levels will be checked," Nadda said.

As a crucial component, the policy proposes raising public health expenditure to 2.5 per cent of the GDP in a time-bound manner, Nadda said while asserting that the health budget has increased in the last two years, nearly 27 per cent this time. The real problem is that we are not able to spend the entire amount, he said. -- PTI