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t is that time of the year again when the healthcare industry is left disappointed. Requests and hopes are silenced as the Finance Minister reads out the current year’s allocations and plans. This year, the experts were unanimous in pointing out that the budgetary allocation to health was abysmal and the budget included few concrete measures to improve health in the country. Access to healthcare is critical to improving health status and good health is necessary for empowering the economy drivers of any country. We all know that our medical decisions should be made by certified medical practitioners/specialists with their patients and patients’ families' consent. However, it is not as simple as we are forced to consider many more factors before we make those decisions. Unfortunate our medical decisions are also influenced by finances, insurance companies, religion, access to care, and especially in an election year, politics. Throughout the world, governments have had a significant role in providing and regulating health services and their role is particu-
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Although the increase in allocation for healthcare is a positive move, it is certainly not enough. For the sector to make significant strides, a minimum allocation of four to five per cent of GDP is necessary Ameera Shah MD & CEO, METROPOLIS HEALTHCARE
The fact is that there are large unspent budgets in the previous years and therefore the focus now needs to be on enhancing the capacity of the government to improve the utilisation of the funds made available Charu Sehgal SENIOR DIRECTOR, CONSULTING, STRATEGY & OPERATIONS, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU INDIA
larly important in developing countries with large concentration of poor. The health sector challenges in India, like those in other low- and middle-income
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t is becoming increasingly evident that any nation aspiring to be at the forefront of the modern world needs to provide access to quality healthcare to all its citizens.This laudable objective would encompass three broad segments: 1) ensuring access to care for the elderly and thus in a philosophical sense recompensing the past 2) strengthening our present through programmes targeting the adult population and 3) securing the future though programmes aimed at children (reducing infant and maternal mortality rates) The 2013 budget has come out as a step in the right direction for achieving such universal health coverage in the country by increasing funds for healthcare setups such as the six ‘AIIMS like’ institutions (Rs 1650 crores). It has also uplifted the geriatric segment with the Rs 150 crore National Programme for the Gautam Khanna Health Care of Elderly. Investing in education and research to CHAIR, FICCI MEDICAL DEVICES FORUM & EXECUTIVE DIRECTORensure a continuous stream of medical professionals as well as HEALTHCARE BUSINESS, 3M INDIA innovation in healthcare will form the foundation for better patient outcomes in the long run. Some short term relief has been granted to a section of the society with RSBY being extended to more categories like sanitary workers, mine workers, taxi drivers, etc. However, some more hard hitting reforms that would have impacted the society at large would definitely have placed the nation on a much stronger footing in this vital sector. The people of India need better accessibility, affordability and quality of healthcare. Accessibility to healthcare is a major concern in rural India and needs to be addressed to curb issues such as infant and maternal mortality. Investment in primary health centres across rural India which are electronically connected with metro cities can make a difference here. Secondly, affordability – India has one of the largest out of pocket expenses in healthcare – innovative models around financing and insurance are the need of the hour. And finally quality – As I said, healthcare as a field is continuously advancing. Almost every day there are better treatments that are discovered for better patient outcomes.There should be sharing of best practices across healthcare providers, as well as incentives for healthcare product companies to transform healthcare practices through continuous medical education programmes targeted at users. There is a dire need for regulation of medical devices and standards of quality across the country which will enable the people to make an informed choice. By framing political agendas around these concerns, parties will be able to address needs of the citizens more effectively, and ensure better healthcare and better quality of life for all strata of society. Ultimately, isn’t better politics about building a better society?
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countries, are formidable. India is home to 16.5 per cent of the world’s population and at any point of time it is estimated that there are over two million people with incurable and other chronic diseases. "The overall priority accorded to healthcare in India is much less as compared to, say a country like US, where healthcare is an important political agenda. No one in India contests elections with healthcare as a propaganda. Understandably, since health is not a priority for developing nations. It is a failure to recognise health as an integral constituent of overall socio-economic development. The Union Budget is a reflection of this fact, with very few words on healthcare and even lesser resource allocation, laments Ameera Shah, MD & CEO, Metropolis Healthcare, Mumbai.
Allocation for healthcare It is widely acknowledged that the health and well-being of a country’s human resource is linked to its economic progress and productivity. Yet, public spending on medical, public health, and family welfare in India is much below what is required. In 2011, the government spent a miserable one per cent of its GDP on healthcare but last year’s
budget promised to hike it up to 2.5 per cent. This year, the Finance Minister P Chidambaram earmarked Rs 37,330 crore for the healthcare sector in the next financial year 201314 budget, up from Rs 30,702 crore in the current fiscal, thus a rise of 22 per cent in allocation. “Of this, the new National Health Mission that combines the rural mission and the proposed urban mission will get Rs 21239 crore [Rs 212,390 million],” Chidambaram said. Although, the industry welcomed the increases budgetary allocation to healthcare, they said it was still not enough to bring about any drastic changes. “Although the increase in allocation for healthcare is a positive move, it is certainly not enough. As I had mentioned earlier, for the sector to make significant strides, a minimum allocation of four to five per cent of GDP is necessary,” said Shah. "While it is encouraging to see the increased outlays, the fact is that there are large unspent budgets in the previous years and therefore the focus now needs to be on enhancing the capacity of the government to improve the utilisation of the funds made available," added Charu Sehgal, Senior Director, APRIL 2013