The budget sessions for the year 2013-14 began from February 21st, 2013 and the union budget 2013-14 will be placed in the parliament on February 28th, 2013. Health being a key issue of the budget, it is likely that the corporate honchos and the health experts in this sector will have their respective wish lists. Zee Research Group (ZRG) interacted with some top health experts of India to enquire about their respective pre-budget expectations on the health sector. The common strand in all of their wish lists was that the budget for the health should be increased to 2.5 percent of GDP. Also, all of them were in view of granting infrastructure status to the healthcare sector and easing the norms for medical visas to attract more medical tourism.
A vibrant health sector is a key to the well-being of the nation and the government must step up its allocations to achieve the targets set for the XIIth five year plan. Health care spending by the government has been low averaging 0.9 percent of GDP in the last five years. This must be progressively scaled of 2.5 percent of GDP by 2017.
Additionally, the government must take definitive steps to expedite the grant of infrastructure status to the healthcare sector; expand physical infrastructure for medical education and also ease the norms for creation of new colleges and centres of excellence for higher Medical learning; expand the scale and scope of the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY); expand preventive health programs and ease the norms for medical visas so we attract more medical tourism.
2. Dr K K Aggarwal, Consultant, Medicine and Cardiology, Moolchand Medcity, New Delhi
Removal of import duty on equipment, specially diagnostic and imaging equipment like MRI and CAT scan which are not manufactured in India. This will lower the cost for the patients and allow new technology to enter India.
Give industry status to health care so that the cost of interest can come down.
No service tax should be levied on customers as it will only add to the higher cost of health care.
4. Dr Sunil Mehra, Executive director, Mamta, Health Institute for Mother and Child, Delhi
Spending more at the outreach and the community level interventions. In National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) budget, what actually goes at the outreach level is abysmally low.
Quality of health care should be improved.
Decentralised planning needs to happen more and more with the empowerment of functionaries.
Also read: Decoding the budget - what the demands of the healthcare industry mean
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The budget sessions for the year 2013-14 began from February 21st, 2013 and the union budget 2013-14 will be placed in the parliament on February 28th, 2013. Health being a key issue of the budget, it is likely that the corporate honchos and the health experts in this sector will have their respective wish lists. Zee Research Group (ZRG) interacted with some top health experts of India to enquire about their respective pre-budget expectations on the health sector. The common strand in all of their wish lists was that the budget for the health should be increased to 2.5 percent of GDP. Also, all of them were in view of granting infrastructure status to the healthcare sector and easing the norms for medical visas to attract more medical tourism.
