By Dr Rajat Arora,
The healthcare community in India is happy to see the long-overdue focus on the sector finally taking an important part in the budgetary outlay.
The increase of 137 per cent in the healthcare sector budgetary outlay is unprecedented, not only in the history of India but anywhere in the world.
The Rs 35,000 crore outlay for Covid-19 vaccines will certainly boost the confidence of healthcare workers as well as common people and is a decisive step towards resuming economic activities and tread on the path of growth.
The capability-increasing measures such as setting up of integrated public healthcare laboratories in 11 states, a country-specific Indian centre for disease control and prevention, 9 biosafety 3-level laboratories, and 4 regional National Institute of Virology across the country will play a significant role in not only addressing the current disease scenario but will also help in addressing the emerging challenges and the future pandemics.
The focus on digitization in the form of expansion of health information portals is also a welcome step and will pave the way for the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM).
(The author is Founder Director at Genestrings Diagnostics Center -- a Covid testing unit at IGIA)