Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2023 before the parliament on Wednesday, February 1, 2023. Calling the budget the ‘first budget of the Amrit Kaal', she said this budget will pave the way for the country to grow and achieve the Prime Minister's vision to make us a developed nation in the next 25 years.
Budget 2023: Healthcare
While the Budget 2023 proposed various changes to the income tax norms, it also mentions the healthcare sector. In the opening remarks of her speech, the Finance Minister hailed the unparallel scale and speed of the vaccination drive against Coronavirus (COVID-19) across the country.
India's rising global profile is because of several accomplishments like Unique world-class digital public infrastructure, e.g., Aadhar, Co-WIN & UPI.
February 1, 2023
COVID vaccination drive conducted in unparallel scale & speed: FM @NSitharaman#AmritKaalBudget #UnionBudget2023 @PMOIndia pic.twitter.com/XSXZslttFfSitharaman also announced that dedicated multidisciplinary courses will be supported in existing institutions. This will be done to ensure that skilled manpower is available for futuristic medical technologies, high-end research, and manufacturing. She added that 157 new nursing colleges will be set up under health education and skilling, in co-location with existing medical colleges that have been established since 2014.
Adding to this, FM Nirmala Sitharaman said that research facilities will be made available for research by public and private medical college faculty and private sector R&D teams in selective ICMR labs for encouraging collaborative research and innovation. She also added that a new programme will be taken up for research and innovation in pharmaceuticals through Centres of Excellence.
A new programme for research & innovation in pharmaceuticals will be taken up through Centres of Excellence.
February 1, 2023
Dedicated multi-disciplinary courses for medical devices will be supported in the existing institutions: FM @NSitharaman Ji#AmritKaalBudget pic.twitter.com/tjtJZgejpqBudget 2023: Allocation For Healthcare
While presenting the Union Budget 2023-24, Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has been allocated ₹89,155 Crore, which is a hike of approximately 13% over the ₹79,145 Crore allocated in Budget 2022-23. Out of ₹89,155 Crore, ₹86,175 Crore will be allocated to the Department of Health and Family Welfare, and ₹2,980 Crore will be allocated to the Department of Health Research.
The allocation for the AYUSH ministry in the Budget 2023 has been increased from ₹2,845.75 Crore to ₹3,647.50 Crore, which is a 28% hike.
Mission To Eliminate Sickle Cell Disease (SCD)
During her Budget 2023 speech, the Finance Minister gave a special mention to the launch of the government's mission to eliminate sickle cell anaemia by 2047. Talking about the mission, she said it will entail awareness creation, universal screening of 7 Crore people in affected tribal areas in the age group 0-40 years and counselling through collaborative efforts.
After the presentation of the budget, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya spoke about this mission saying, “Going forward, the government will also issue cards after screening to tribal persons below 40 years affected by the disease mentioning their sickle cell anaemia status and also provide pre-marital counselling to make the patients aware of the detrimental effects of the disease if they marry another sickle cell anaemia patient and give birth.”
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