An analysis of the union budget allocation in the past 5 years for healthcare

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the budget allocation for healthcare as a part of the interim Union Budget 2024 in the Parliament on Thursday.

Sitharaman in her speech addressed that a new world order is emerging after the Covid-19 pandemic which lead to crisis of food, fertilizer, fuel and finances for the world, while India successfully navigated its way; As healthcare is one of the priority sector for the government, Sitharaman announced several beneficiaries this interim budget.

1. Government plans to set up more medical colleges by utilising the existing hospital infrastructure under various departments. A committee for this purpose will be set up to examine the issues and make relevant recommendations,

2. Encourage Cervical Cancer Vaccination for girls of age 9 to 14 years.

3. Nirmala sitharaman announced that various schemes for maternal and child care will be brought under one comprehensive programme for synergy in implementation.

4. Upgradation of anganwadi centres under 'Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0' will be expedited for improved nutrition delivery, early childhood care and development. The U-WIN platform for managing immunisation efforts of 'Mission Indradhanush' will be rolled out throughout the country.

5. Health cover under Ayushman Bharat scheme to be extended to all ASHA, Angawadi workers and helpers. Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri-Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) is the largest publicly funded health insurance scheme in the world that provides coverage of Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation.

Take a look at budget allocations for healthcare in the past years.

2023-24: The Union Budget for 2023-24 allocated Rs. 86,175 crore to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The budget exceeded the last pandemic year allocation to sustain the healthcare infrastructure as per the groing needs.

1. Sitharaman this year announced that 157 nursing colleges will be established with the existing 157 medical colleges established since 2014.

2. She announced that a mission to eliminate Sickle Cell Anaemia by 2047, will be launched, which will entail awareness creation, universal screening of 7 crore people in the age group of 0-40 years in affected tribal areas, and counseling through collaborative efforts of central ministries and state governments.

3. On Medical Research, ICMR Labs was promised to be available for research by public and private medical college faculty and private sector R&D teams to encourage collaborative research and innovation.

2022-2023: The Union Budget allocated Rs 86,200 crore to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in the Financial Year (FY) 2022-23.

2. An open platform for National Digital Health Ecosystem twas promised to roll out.

3. National Tele Mental Health Programme’ for quality mental health counselling and care services to be launched.

4. A network of 23 tele-mental health centres of excellence will be set up, with NIMHANS being the nodal centre and International Institute of Information Technology-Bangalore (IIITB) providing technology support.

2021-2022: The Finance Minister announced that a new centrally sponsored scheme, 'PM AatmaNirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana.' This will be in addition to the National Health Mission. The main interventions under the scheme are:

1.1 Support for 17,788 rural and 11,024 urban Health and Wellness Center

1.2 Setting up integrated public health labs in all districts and 3382 block public health units in 11 states.

1.3 Establishing critical care hospital blocks in 602 districts and 12 central institutions.

1.4 Strengthening of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), its 5 regional branches and 20 metropolitan health surveillance units.

1.5 Expansion of the Integrated Health Information Portal to all States/UTs to connect all public health labs.

1.6 Operationalisation of 17 new Public Health Units and strengthening of 33 existing Public Health Units at Points of Entry, that is at 32 Airports, 11 Seaports and 7 land crossings.

1.7 Setting up of 15 Health Emergency Operation Centers and 2 mobile hospitals.

1.8 Setting up of a national institution for One Health, a Regional Research Platform for WHO South East Asia Region, 9 Bio-Safety Level III laboratories and 4 regional National Institutes for Virology.

2. In provisions for vaccines, Rs 35,000 crore was made for Covid-19 vaccine in BE 2021-22.

2020-2021: Sitharaman said Rs 69,000 crore is being provided for Health care including Rs 6400 crores for Prime Minister Jan ArogyaYojana (PMJAY). 

2. The Budget this year proposed more than 20,000 empanelled hospitals under 'PM Jan Arogya Yojana' for poor people; and expansion of 'Jan Aushadhi Kendra Scheme' to all districts offering 2000 medicines and 300 surgicals by 2024.

3. To give impetus to domestic industry, and to generate resource for health services, it is proposed to impose a nominal health cess of 5 per cent on imports of specified medical equipment.