The Council for healthcare and Pharma (CHP) has released a press statement indicating its suggestions for the upcoming Union Budget. The council has lauded the efforts of the Government and the vision of PM Narendra Modi in launching the visionary Ayushman Bharat and Jan Arogya programmes which aim to provide medical access and the right to health, to every citizen ofIndia. These are gigantic steps in the right direction, with the plan being the largest ever conceived, in the world. It will particularly benefit the marginalised and those at the fringes of society.

The Council believes that the last budget raised some of the allocations supporting the vision of healthcare for all and importantly brought the idea of a healthy India and its linked socio-economic benefits to prominence. However, given the ambitious task at hand allocations will have to be raised systematically and exponentially year on year, for the realisation of the dream. Additionally, they must be focused to solve the most pressing issues impeding progress.

Dr Gurpreet Sandhu, President, CHP said, "We hope, the coming budget will address deficiencies while providing a strong impetus and necessary monetary allocations to capacity building. Qualified doctors, nurses and paramedics are in short supply and it is important to establish and resource medical colleges adequately, while drastically increasing seats for specialisation and super specialisation in medical institutions. On the input side, the pharmaceutical industry, medical devices, primary care facilities and hospitals all need scale, encouragement and supportive policies to meet the expectations and growing healthcare needs of the country."

He added, "Preventive actions that encourage and keep people healthy must be promoted alongside health insurance that should cover both preventive and curative aspects including, diagnosis, periodic medical consults, preventive check-ups, traditional and allopathic medicines, hospital admissions, surgeries, medical implants and devices. Traditional medicine along with the availability of cutting-edge medicines and technologies must be encouraged and supported through benign policy and budgetary actions that encourage R&D efforts in the country."

A framework with investment templates that encourage public private partnerships, build mutual trust and provide fair rewards for entrepreneurship, human endeavour and sustainable development of the sector is required. This could take the form of tax cuts, tax incentives, streamlined payments, lowered capex costs to attract creation and upgradation of supportive infrastructure and manufacturing facilities.

Alongside IT, India had a head start in this sector and has served the globe well, reaching a level of maturity. While IT has continued to grow some parts in the health sector have experienced a lag. In a dynamic market India needs to remain globally competitive. This can be achieved if the country is known for quality, efficiency and cost structure. India therefore needs to have scale and significant market share, to be preferred global providers of modern healthcare, pharmaceuticals and adjunct services.

India would do well to encourage these aspects in the forthcoming Union budget maintaining the course that it has embarked upon.

The Council hopes that the coming budget will address deficiencies while providing a strong impetus and necessary monetary allocations to capacity building.