Union Budget: Mixed reaction from healthcare sector

Chennai: New announcements on the proposals relating to the healthcare sector saw mixed response.

“Healthcare has finally taken the centrestage in the Budget,” said Dr Prathap C. Reddy, chairman and founder, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited.

However, increased coverage on health promotion scheme had fallen short of what would be adequate for the coverage for treatment for major illnesses.

“We await the details of how this amount is to be spent – whether it is only for coverage of cost of illnesses, or will it be spent on promoting health, or bolstering the primary health sector,” said Dr Vivekananda Jha, executive director, George Institute for Global Health, India.

The announcement on national dialysis scheme is welcome. “The World Economic Forum has predicted that increasing NCD burden will cost India close to a sum of $5 trillion in terms of loss of output between 2012 and 2030,” said Dr Reddy.