Noting that 63 million people are pushed into poverty every year due to health costs, the report said 67.8 per cent of total expenditure on health in India was paid out of pocket, while the world average is just 18.2 per cent.

The availability of free medicines in public healthcare facilities has declined from 31.2 per cent to 8.9 per cent for in-patient care and from 17.8 per cent to 5.9 per cent for out-patient care over the last two decades, the report said.