Image used for representational purpose.
| Photo Credit: PTI
The Union Budget of 2024-25 provides support to healthcare delivery through increased investment in infrastructure and expansion of the health workforce. It aims to make more affordable some lifesaving drugs needed for treating cancer, other chronic diseases, and some rare diseases.
It also seeks to expand the coverage of health insurance, while providing incentives for private sector-led medical tourism.
Union Budget 2025 | What’s in it for health sector?
While health research gets a needed boost and digital health gets energised, primary healthcare does not get the needed support. Health research and child nutrition programmes get greater support but adolescent health and adult nutrition do not benefit from budgetary initiatives.
In her budgetary speech, the Finance Minister announced support for creating 75,000 more undergraduate seats in medical colleges over the next five years, starting with 10,000 more seats in the coming year. This will help in meeting health workforce shortages that are limiting access to needed health services, even as the demand for health services will rise due to a growing and ageing population. The Budget does not refer to other sections of the health workforce. Nurses and allied health professionals also need investments for scaling up and skilling up.
Compared to the previous year’s Budget, the proposed allocation for health has increased by 9.70%. This includes a 9.47% increase for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, a 7.55% increase for the AYUSH Ministry, and an 18.14% increase for health research (Indian Council of Medical Research, and the Department of Health Research). The Ayushman Bharat Infrastructure Mission (ABHIM) gets a 26.68% rise. While support for private sector initiatives to promote medical tourism has been announced, there is no budgetary increase for the Pradhan Mantri Swasth Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY), which is the vehicle for strengthening the government’s tertiary care institutions.
Amongst the major health programmes, PMJAY (Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana), the public-funded health insurance programme, gets a substantial boost of 28.85%. This is needed, since the government earlier announced its intent to extend coverage to frontline health and nutrition workers while adding gig workers to the list of the scheme’s beneficiaries in this year’s Budget. However, the National Health Mission (NHM) gets only a 3.77% increase. This is surprising since NHM is the principal vehicle for strengthening primary care services and district hospitals. When the urban primary care component of NHM is yet to gather speed, this is a decision that needs to be reviewed.
A welcome announcement proposes to exempt customs duties on 36 lifesaving drugs needed for treating cancer as well as other chronic and rare diseases, while also reducing duties on six more drugs. It needs to be seen how far the pharmaceutical industry will pass on these benefits to the patients through reduced drug prices. Support for day care centres for cancer treatment in district hospitals was announced. Full exemption and concessional duties will extend to bulk drugs which are needed for the manufacture of medicines in India.
Overall, the Budget focuses more on delivering curative care than on health promotion and disease prevention. While the former is certainly needed, more needs to be done to keep the population healthy. Higher taxes on ultra-processed foods (UPF) and sugary drinks would have given strength to the Prime Minister’s recent call to avoid the health dangers associated with obesity.
*Prof. K. Srinath Reddy is Distinguished Professor of Public Health, and past President, Public Health Foundation of India
Published – February 01, 2025 07:56 pm IST