New Delhi, Dec 24 (IANS): The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), which aims to provide affordable and quality health care to the rural population, needs to be decentralised. It also requires greater incentives, Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) president K. Srinath Reddy said Wednesday.

"The NRHM in India needs greater decentralisation to ensure universal healthcare for all. There is a need that the government should provide more incentives to the several institutions delivering primary healthcare," Reddy said.

Speaking at an event on universal health coverage in India, he said: "The focus of primary healthcare in India is on maternal and child health, so that too needs to be widened."

He also emphasized the need to set up a National Health Regulatory and Development Authority which could check on the quality of medicine, monitor and evaluate healthcare in India and establish regulatory norms.

"Our country has no regulation on health. So having a regulatory system of administration is another step towards providing healthcare for all," he added.