NNA |
Update: January 29, 2022 1:03 p.m. STI

By Shalini Bhardwaj
New Delhi [India], Jan 29 (ANI): Ahead of the presentation of the Union budget 2022-23, which is due to take place on February 1, health professionals believe that health and well-being, which is one of the six Crucial Pillars of Aatma The Nirbhar Bharat campaign is also expected to be prioritized in this year’s budget.
Health professionals said there is a need to further strengthen medical services in rural areas and equip Tier 2-3 cities with facilities such as diagnostic centers, ventilators, intensive care, intensive care facilities and oxygen plants.
Health professions shared with ANI that tax incentives should also be extended to research and development to encourage more innovation in healthcare
“The government has rightly placed health and welfare as the first of the six pillars of the 2021 Union budget and the focus must also be maintained in 2022,” Ashutosh Raghuvanshi, MD told ANI. and CEO of Fortis Healthcare.
“Firstly, spending on health infrastructure needs to be increased. Since the hospital sector is at the forefront as cases in India rise again, facilities in tier 2-3 cities need to be equipped with diagnostic centers , ventilators, ICUS, critical care facility equipment and oxygen plants,” he added.
“We need increased investment in NCD programs as comorbidities lead to pandemic deaths and long COVID-related illnesses. There is an urgent need to allocate a separate budget for a national campaign around health prevention, testing and screening, as these are essential to reduce the overall disease burden in India,” he added.

“The government also needs to focus on creating asset-light models powered by digital health to drive out-of-hospital care, remote monitoring and home care to reduce the burden on hospitals. We need to strengthen the digital ecosystem to accelerate the adoption of new technologies to foster telemedicine for diagnosis and treatment,” he said.
“There needs to be more investment in advanced training and capacity building programs through affordable study tools and courses for doctors, nurses and healthcare workers in critical and intensive care, pulmonology, cardiology , oncology, emergency care and trauma care,” he added.

“Health care should be given priority status so that the sector can benefit from the GST transition and that providers and health service delivery establishments can benefit from loans at lower rates and a It is also essential that the government reduces fees and taxes for intensive care and life-saving equipment and medicines to reduce costs for both providers and patients,” he explained.
Meanwhile, sharing her expectations for the budget, Apollo Hospitals Group Jt Managing Director, Sangita Reddy said, “The pandemic has shown India’s potential to become a global center for R&D in medicines and vaccines. Tax incentives should also be extended to R&D, as this further encourages innovation in healthcare.”
“Another key area that the budget needs to address is the qualification of healthcare workers. This will help address the workforce challenge we are facing and bring India up to the recommended level in terms of doctors and trained nurses A policy for a model health education OPP would help us increase the ratio of health workers to population.”
Encourage more and above all “health” care and not care for the sick. Raising the health check exemption from Rs 15,000 to Rs 75,000 per family will be a real step towards
Indian Medical Association President, Sahajanand Prasad Singh said: “The expectations of the Indian Medical Association are first to increase the GDP allocation from 1.2% to 3.3%, the government should spend more on primary health care, the need to provide services in rural areas, the promotion of resources and production of drugs and medicines for doctors and the population, problem of shortage of nurses and paramedics, we must improve the quality of hospitals in rural areas, we must send doctors to rural areas to serve the people. (ANI)