Major thrust to medical education, innovation and research in Budget ’24: Dr Naresh Purohit

Jabalpur/New Delhi: There is a major thrust to medical education, innovation and research in the Union Budget 2023-24. This year, the centre has hiked its allocation for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to Rs 89,155 crore, up by Rs 2,954.35 crore or 3.43 percent from its FY24 allocation of Rs 86,200.65 crore said Dr Naresh Purohit, Executive Member of the Federation of

Reacting to the Union Budget 2023 – WHO Covid-19 technical lead Dr Purohit informed NewsOnRadar.com that the total allocation for health in the Union budget- 2023 stood at 2.1 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP). This shall boost medical research and development both in the private and public health sectors.

Principal Investigator for the Association of Studies of Healthcare, Dr Purohit averred that the budget has made a progressive stride towards the healthcare and startup sectors as well as in terms of giving a boost to women and their economic empowerment. “These are encouraging announcements, and healthcare sector hopes for timely and adequate execution of the same in the months ahead.” he added.

He pointed out that in this Union Budget, the government has focused on some of the core needs of the health and wellness sector. The plan to establish 157 nursing colleges as collocated facilities alongside medical colleges will help cover the shortage of trained healthcare workforce and lead to greater healthcare coverage of the out-of-hospital medical services.

“The plans to provide access to ICMR labs and other research and development facilities as well as a collaborative approach to pharmaceuticals research and encouragement of private sector investments, multi-disciplinary training for R&D and manufacturing of high-quality medical devices, and various other such measures are going to augur well for the overall universal healthcare access and quality in India,” he said

He averred that it is encouraging to see that the budget outlines several measures towards improving the ease of doing business by reducing compliances and decriminalizing legal provisions.

“The centers of excellence in Artificial Intelligence to be set up for sectors like health will ensure that the country starts creating tech-based solutions in-house. This will further encourage innovation in the country and ensure that the health tech sector in India picks up pace.” he said.

Renowned Epidemiologist further said that medical fraternity expected more focus on training centers on heart disease and CPR in the budget given the drastic increase in the number of heart attacks among the younger population in India. Metabolic diseases deserve specific attention as well given the pandemic proportions of these diseases due to the high-stress and unhealthy lives that the population at large is now leading.

“Mental health has come to the fore with COVID-19 in mammoth proportions and deserved to be given more priority in the budget as well.” he opined. He stated that Finance Minister Sitharaman in the Union Budget announced a program for the elimination of sickle cell anemia, with the universal screening of seven crore people in tribal areas where the disease is more common.

He informed that Finance Minister Sitharaman said in her speech that a mission to eliminate sickle cell anaemia by 2047 will be launched that will entail awareness creation and universal screening of 7 cr people in the 0-40 years in tribal areas along with counselling.

He averred that the Union budget has brought dedicated multidisciplinary courses for medical devices that would be supported in institutions to ensure skilled manpower for futuristic medical tech and high-end manufacturing and research.