Hitting The Right Notes With The Health Budget

Context: Union Budget 2021–22 has right focus on Health sector amidst COVID-19 Pandemic.

Provisions in Budget 2021-22: To strengthen the health sector.

• For boosting domestic manufacture of pharmaceuticals and medical devices: Production-Linked Incentive schemes
• For tacking COVID-19: Mission COVID Suraksha to promote the development and testing of indigenous vaccine candidates.
• Integration of Health and well-being: that includes allocations for water, sanitation, nutrition and clean air).
  • The National Health Policy (NHP), 2017 highlighted the links between health, water and sanitation.
  • Economic survey also recognises that water, sanitation and housing are correlated with health.
  • For good water: Substantive allocation for Jal Jeevan Mission (Urban).
    • Good water is important to prevent diseases: like diarrhoea, pneumonia, polio, malaria, heart ailments, cancer etc.
    • According to Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2019, one out of every 100 Indian children die before the age of 5 on account of either diarrhoea or pneumonia. 
  • For nutrition and food security: the Government of India launched the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package for providing free foodgrains to 800 million beneficiaries
    • To facilitate access to subsidised grains across the country, the ‘One Nation One Ration Card’ scheme has been enabled in 32 States/Union Territories.
• Expansion of vaccine coverage:
  • Expansion of pneumococcal vaccine coverage: Important because the universalisation of vaccine could save up to 50,000 lives annually.
  • Increased allocation for COVID-19 vaccine: special allocation of Rs 35,000 crore.
• Prioritisation of capital expenditure: By introducing Pradhan Mantri – Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana (PMANSBY):
  • It will strengthen health system at all levels, including establishing integrated public health laboratories and institutes of virology (enhancing disease surveillance and diagnostic capabilities)
  • Emphasis on expansion of health and wellness centres.
• Promoting Ayurveda: By a 40% hike for the Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH). 

Way forward: to further strengthen health sector.

• Increase allocation to successful schemes: Like Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) –
  • The Economic Survey estimates a 20% decline in the infant mortality rate between 2015–16 and 2019–20 in States that adopted PM-JAY, compared to a 12% decline in other States.
• Ramp up budgetary allocation for health overtime.
• Ensure adequate funds for critical and closely-linked sectors: Like nutrition, water and sanitation.
• States should also increase its health spending: to at least 8% of their budget by 2022 as recommended by the NHP, 2017 and the Fifteenth Finance Commission.

Conclusion: Union Budget 2021–22 has laid a strong foundation to increase the resilience of the sector in achieving Universal Health Coverage by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals agenda.