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Health sees healthy hike of Rs 10,000 cr in 2023 budget; mission to eliminate sickle cell anaemia; Mandaviya reacts

Budget 2023 promises a lot of new initiatives as far as the health sector is concerned. Enhanced ICMR facilities and research by public and private medical facilities are some of the highlights of this sector.

Health sees healthy hike of Rs 10,000 cr in 2023 budget; mission to eliminate sickle cell anaemia; Mandaviya reacts
Health sees healthy hike of Rs 10,000 cr in 2023 budget; mission to eliminate sickle cell anaemia; Mandaviya reacts
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Published : Feb 1, 2023, 11:40 AM IST

Updated : Feb 1, 2023, 8:12 PM IST

New Delhi: In the Union Budget 2023-24 presented in Lok Sabha on Wednesday, health was one of the key sectors where the government has hiked the fund allocation and announced new schemes and measures to improve overall health infrastructure. The health sector has been allocated Rs 89,155 crore in the budget, a hike of around 13 per cent over Rs 79,145 crore allocated in 2022-23, with the government also announcing a mission to eliminate sickle cell anaemia by 2047.

In her speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the budget promises new nursing colleges to enhance ICMR facilities. She also said that 157 new nursing colleges will be established in co-location with the existing 157 medical colleges established since 2014. “157 new nursing colleges will be established in co-locations with the existing 157 medical colleges established since 2014,” Sitharaman said.

The Centre also announced a mission to eliminate sickle cell anaemia by 2047. "A mission to eliminate sickle cell anaemia by 2047 will be launched. It will entail awareness creation, universal screening of 7 crore people in the age group of 0-40 years in affected tribal areas, and counselling through collaborative efforts of central ministries and state governments," she said.

The finance minister said facilities in select Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) laboratories will be made available for research by public and private medical college faculty members and private sector research and development teams for encouraging collaborative research and innovation. The budget allocation for the AYUSH ministry has been increased from Rs 2,845.75 crore to Rs 3,647.50 crore, recording a 28 per cent increase.

Out of Rs 89,155 crore, Rs 86,175 crore has been allocated to the Department of Health and Family Welfare, while Rs 2,980 crore to the Department of Health Research. From the new financial year, the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) has been bifurcated into two sub-schemes, the first being the PMSSY itself and the second one is the establishment expenditure of 22 new AIIMS for which Rs 6,835 crore has been allocated.

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The budget allocation for the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana for 2023-2024 is Rs 3,365 crore. Among these central sector schemes, the budget allocation for the National Health Mission has been increased from Rs 28,974.29 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 29,085.26 crore in 2023-24, and for Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (PM-JAY), it has been hiked from Rs 6,412 crore to Rs 7,200 crore.

The allocation for the National Digital Health Mission NHM has been increased from Rs 140 crore to Rs 341.02 crore. For the National Tele Mental Health Programme, the budget allocation has been increased from Rs 121 crore to Rs 133.73 crore. The budget allocation for autonomous bodies goes up from Rs 10,348.17 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 17,322.55 crore in 2023-24. Among the autonomous bodies, the allocation for AIIMS, New Delhi has been reduced from Rs 4,400.24 crore to Rs 4,134.67 crore. The allocation for ICMR has been increased from Rs 2,116.73 crore to Rs 2,359.58 crore.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya reacts

Hailing the Budget, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya Wednesday said that more than 200 districts across India are prone to sickle cell anaemia. "The budget announcement of eliminating sickle cell anaemia by 2047 is a very positive thing. Tribal people of more than 200 districts from different states especially Gujarat, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha are highly prone to sickle cell disease," said Mandaviya.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya reacts to health sector announcements in Budget 2023

He said that under the mission, awareness will be created on a massive scale. "Universal screening of 7 crore people in the age group of 0 to 40 years will be conducted in affected tribal areas," he said. Mandaviya further informed that funds for sickle cell elimination will be shared with the state governments on 60:40 basis. "Central government will allocate funds for sickle cell elimination under National Health Mission," the health minister said.

He also hailed the announcement of utilising ICMR labs for both public and private medical colleges. "We are thankful to Finance Minister for considering our request to provide facilities in the select ICMR labs for research by public and private medical college faculty. It will encourage collaborative research and innovations," said Mandaviya.

It is pertinent to mention that the Indian Medical Association (IMA) had recently submitted suggestions to the government for the budget. The IMA had submitted overall twelve suggestions for the Budget. Some of them included: Universal access to Health including safe water, sanitation, nutrition, primary education as well as eradication of poverty is a cornerstone in the path to the wellness of a society and nation. Conceptualizing good Governance to attain the wellness of a people could mean clubbing together these services (clinical, public health and social determinants) under one roof. At least drinking water, sanitation and poverty alleviation should be clubbed with Health as Ministry for wellness.

Last Updated : Feb 1, 2023, 8:12 PM IST

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