India has auniversal health caresystem run by the constituentstates and territories of India. TheConstitutioncharges every state with "raising the level ofnutritionand thestandard of livingof its people and the improvement ofpublic healthas among its primary duties". The National Health Policy was endorsed by theParliament of Indiain 1983 and updated in 2002.
Parallel to the public health sector, and indeed more popular than it, is the private medical sector in India. Both urban and rural Indian households tend to use the private medical sector more frequently than the public sector, as reflected in surveys.
India has a life expectancy of 64/67 years (m/f), and an infant mortality rate of 46 per 1000 live births.
