Written By: Longjam Dineshwori | Updated : February 2, 2023 7:53 PM IST
The Union Budget 2023-24 allocated Rs 89, 155 crores to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, an increase of just a little above 12 per cent, compared to previous health budget estimate (86,201 crore). Of the total health budget for the upcoming financial year, the department of health research gets Rs 2,980 crore. The government's announcements to launch a mission to eliminate sickle cell anemia by 2047, establish more nursing colleges, promote research and innovations in pharmaceuticals, support joint public and private research via ICMR labs, were highly appreciated. But the Budget 2023-24 seems to have missed some critical gaps that are hindering the pace of growth in healthcare sector.
Sandeep Vyas, Founder, Mildcares & GynoCup, expressed that while the budget 2023 has increased the healthcare budget, not much support is given to women's healthcare and hygiene.
"Additionally, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman declared a goal to end sickle cell disease by 2047. It will involve raising awareness, screening every one of the seven crore individuals in the impacted tribal areas between the ages of 0 and 40, and providing counselling through coordinated efforts. However, nothing much was allocated to women's healthcare and hygiene. It was a rather disappointing budget for the women's healthcare sector as nothing much was allocated. Even for period hygiene or post-pregnancy care, the budget didn't propose anything significant. I was anticipating an increase in awareness and counselling in rural and urban India for women's health and hygiene and an increase in the usage of menstrual cups and educating women on them," he added.
Promoting research and innovation in pharmaceuticals will definitely help further strengthen the country's position as one of the world's leading drug suppliers. However, some industry experts are disappointed that the government missed an important part in this sector, relaxation in importing Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs).
Sanjeev Jain, Managing Director, Akums Drugs & Pharmaceuticals, appreciated that the union budget 2023 has considered the industry 's request for incentives to boost R&D investments by introducing a new program for pharmaceutical research. However, he pointed out that there were no separate allocations for formulation and APIs, which is important for the Indian pharmaceutical industry to evolve and shine on the world stage.
"The collaboration of ICMR labs with various private sector R&D teams in addition to public and private medical colleges is again a welcome move as it will ensure that quality research can be carried out nationwide," he added.
Dr. Shravan Subramanyam, Managing Director, Wipro GE HealthCare, suggested that the government should consider expanding the PLI scheme for local manufacturing of MedTech Devices to supply infrastructure and technology-linked incentive schemes to boost R&D.
"We have seen the potential of PLI in steering the 'Make in India' journey. It's time to address the manufacturing and distorted duty structure on import of medical devices, especially as we look at the expansion of PLI," he stated.
In addition, he said, the road ahead will need stronger public-private partnerships and sharper penetration of digital to take healthcare to the farthest reaches of the country.
Dr. Subramanyam believes that a renewed focus on technological advancements AI-based technology to help remotely monitor infected patients in hospitals, the promise of 100 5G labs and opening new doors for 'Make AI in India - Make AI for India' will underline the value of precision care.
He also underscored that the budget addresses some critical gaps that have hindered the pace of growth in healthcare sector with a promise "to strengthen the availability of skilled nurses in modern technology with 157 new nursing colleges being co-located with 157 new medical colleges, R&D by building facilities and collaboration with ICMR Labs, and encourage investments in start-ups, research and innovation."
Siddhartha Nihalani, Co-founder, Practo, highlighted the need for promoting and accelerating adoption of government initiatives.
He commented, "While overall the budget was quite positive for the healthcare industry, we were also expecting to see more incentive programmes to promote and accelerate adoption of government initiatives such as Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) which are essential to digitizing health records. Although private players are contributing to India's transformative healthcare journey, government promotion programmes are imperative. Also, increased spending on healthcare infrastructure would have also improved access to healthcare to all."
Dr Sunita Dube, a renowned radiologist and founder of MedscapeIndia, appreciated the proposed initiatives in the health budget 2023, but she pointed out thatGST on medical products is a barrier in achieving health for all.
She remarked, "We need to do something when it comes to patient treatment. It should be made cost-effective. There should be a subsidy or tax deduction on emergency medicine. Due to GST, medical products become expensive so health for all or universal health coverage becomes very difficult for private players as major role of treatment management is done by private doctors in Indi. Overall, the budget is satisfying and looks promising for the healthcare sector."
Nikkhil K Masurkar, CEO, Entod Pharmaceuticals, is also a bit disappointed that there's no announcement on any sort of GST changes and simplified regulations, and no separate funds for R&D, formulation and APIs. He hopes that these factors considered in the coming years.
Richa Singh, Co-Founder & CEO, YourDOST, showed mixed feelings about the Union Budget 2023.
"Although several initiatives in the budget are laudable and oriented towards the vision of accelerating holistic growth, it does not hold a similar promise to the wellbeing industry," she said.
She noted that while setting up of more nursing colleges is important for skilling the next generation of medical professionals, a similar commitment to the wellbeing industry has been overlooked in the budget.
"The previous budget justly recognized the growing significance of mental health today. Building on that momentum, additional incentives in the sphere would have accelerated the due importance that mental health and wellbeing deserves today," Richa added.
Anurag Kashyap, Director- Finance & Strategy TR Life Sciences, also shared that some of their expectations remain unfulfilled in this year's budget, such as incentives for green hospital projects, PPP, provisions for long-term credit facilities, a dedicated regulator for the hospital sector and rationalization of import duty on medical equipment.
He is hopeful that in 'Sapt Rishi' model of development, the government would find out some ways to consider the much-needed reforms while finalizing the Budget 2023-24.
