New Delhi: Experts in India's health domain are expecting a bonanza for the country's health sector when Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman will be presenting the budget on Monday.
This will be Sitaraman's third full budget in a row since she got the finance portfolio in the last year of the previous NDA government.
The health sector is likely to see a bug push especially when India has been witnessing a health emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
If sources in the government are to be believed, the make in India concept for health sector will also witness major announcements especially when domestic health players have been contributing to the country's health sector.
ETV Bharat spoke with prominent experts in India's health domain. They believe that from 1.3 per cent of GDP in the health sector, "it should reach up to 5 per cent."
Last year's budget has sanctioned an allocation of Rs 69,000 crore in the healthcare sector in addition to Rs 35,000 crore for the nutrition-related programmes.
"Government should make the health insurance schemes much cheaper. We just develop our research and manufacturing sector so that we get good drugs in minimum costs," said a senior health expert and neonatologist Dr Arvind Garg.
He emphasised that the government should adopt the concept of Mohalla clinic.
"In fact, there should be separate medical care facilities for each zone so that people don't have to rush to a particular institute for all basic things," Dr Garg said.
It may be mentioned here that the Delhi government has created the concept of Mohalla clinic under which each and everyone in the national capital a medical care facility.
He further said that in the line of Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Revenue Service (IRS), "there should be a separate National Medical Service (NMS) cadre who can fine-tune the health sector".
Admitting the fact that "Coronavirus" was a blessing in disguise, Dr Garg said, "We should have proper data collection facility... Pandemic was in a sense blessing in disguise, which has given a call that We should be better prepared for similar health emergency in future."
Echoing the view, renowned health expert and ICMR advisor Dr Suneela Garg said that India has been witnessing a major "out of the pocket expenditure."
"We expect that government should definitely increase the health budget given the fact that last year India has to spend more money to fight COVID-19...we need to have contingency provision in the budget for extraordinary situations," she said.
Its a fact that in the initial stage of COVID-19 pandemic, India had to spend crores of rupees in importing Personnel Protective Equipments (PPEs), ventilator, masks etc.
Later on, Indian companies have started manufacturing PPEs, ventilators, masks and all other necessary medical equipment.
"We need to give a big push to private players in the health care sector. Because of their contributions we are now in a position to export the medical equipment. We are exporting COVID-19 vaccines as well," said Dr Garg.
She believes that Ayushman and Atma Nirbhar Bharat will further get a big push as far as exhilarating India's health infrastructure is concerned.
Also Read: Key highlights of Economic Survey 2021
