But also highlight some areas where the budget fell short of expectations …

Charu Sehgal, Partner and Leader, Lifesciences and Healthcare, Deloitte India

No boost to encourage private investment in healthcare infrastructure, medical devices

The budget 2021 has provided the much expected increase in public expenditure on Healthcare.   The FM has announced an outlay of Rs 64180 crores over six years though, on Atma Nirbhar Swasthya Bharat scheme in addition to the National Health Mission budget.

There appears to be an integrated approach whereby both the short term and immediate needs as well as the longer term measures have been proposed. While the provision of Rs 35000 crores for COVID-19 vaccine and focus on disease control and surveillance will help cope with the immediate needs brought forth by the pandemic, the setting up of National Institutes for virology and Integrated Health Labs, an updated Health Information portal will all prepare us for future such eventualities.

The pandemic had brought to the fore the stark shortage in infrastructure and medical and paramedical medical resources. The budget announced setting up and upgradation of primary, secondary and tertiary health units across districts and blocks as well as a focus on allied healthcare professionals and that is a welcome step.

The budget has also looked at healthcare holistically and focused on other determinants of health such as nutrition, water and sanitation and air quality. Prevention and wellness have thus been a key focus. The total outlay on healthcare and wellness has been Rs 2.24 lakh crores including the above mentioned allied departments. This has been increased from Rs 91,000 crores last year.

What seems to be missing was the support and boost that was expected to encourage private investment in healthcare infrastructure as well in manufacture of medical devices.

There was also no mention of specific support and incentives for R&D and innovation for the Pharma and Medical technology.

It was the private sector that really rose to the challenge during the last year whether it was on innovation or manufacture of drugs, devices and vaccines or on testing and treatment and it was expected that it will be provided a boost.

Dr Rana Mehta, Partner and Leader Healthcare, PwC India

Focus on preventive and well-being will usher in a more holistic approach to reduce morbidity and mortality

Healthcare spend is proposed to more than double and this will help in rolling out the vaccination programme as well as strengthen the delivery system and build better capability and capacity to combat any future pandemics. India is rolling out the world’s second largest vaccination programme and the Government has provided for almost $5 billion in the next year’s budget to make it happen. Besides curative care the focus on preventive and well-being will usher in a more holistic approach to reduce morbidity and mortality.

Vishal Bali, Executive Chairman, Asia Healthcare Holding

Rs 35000 crore earmarked for COVID-19-19 vaccination drive will create the safety net for the country

Healthy India is core to India’s economic growth reflects in the 137 per cent increase in outlay for health at Rs 2,23,846 cr in budget 2021. The focus on healthcare with Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana with an outlay of Rs 64, 180 crore over six years shows that healthcare capacity building is now a key priority for the Government. The Rs 35000 crore earmarked for COVID-19-19 vaccination drive will create the safety net for the country. The overall capital expenditure increase of 26 per cent should drive infrastructure acceleration, the much needed GDP growth driver. Insurance sector which is an important pillar for any country should see an exponential growth with enhancement of FDI limit to 74 per cent from 49 per cent. Overall a forward looking budget to drive the 11 per cent GDP growth for India in FY22 as pegged in the Economic survey 2020.

Vikram Thaploo, CEO, Apollo Telehealth

No major developments around digital healthcare or telemedicine was announced

The Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman announced an allocation of Rs 64,180 crore over the next six years for the healthcare sector in the 2021 Union Budget. The budget allocated is in addition to the National Health Mission which is already in effect. One of the key initiatives proposed in this year’s budget is the addition of 17,000 rural and 11,000 urban health and wellness centres which is a supportive move for better patient care and will also pave the way for public-private partnerships. Also, the government has proposed to set up integrated public health labs in each district with 3,382 block public health units across 11 states.

Another welcoming move is the outlay of Rs 1.41 crore for the Swach Bharat 2.0 mission which will help improve sanitisation and transform the lives of millions. Considering the government’s effort to curb the pandemic of COVID-19, it has also planned to set aside Rs 35,000 Crore for COVID-19 vaccine in FY22. Though, it must be admitted that the government has re-shifted its focus on healthcare in this budget, but considering the rapid integration of digital technology into healthcare, no major developments around digital healthcare or telemedicine was announced.

Parvathavardhini Natarajan, Associate Director, Ratings, Brickwork Ratings

No tax benefits on R&D investments in pharma and lower GST for life-saving drugs

As BWR expected, Union Budget had reinforced the commitment of providing good and sufficient healthcare to its citizens with a whopping increase of 137 per cent in budgetary allocation from Rs. 94,452 crores in FY 2020-21 to Rs. 2,23,846 crore in FY 2021-22 to the health care sector. The proposed budget allocation of 1.8 per cent on GDP to health care is very much in with BWR expectations (2 per cent to 2.5 per cent)

On the healthcare segment, the budget focussed on a holistic approach – Preventive, Curative and well-being from grass root level by launching Atmanirbar Swasthik Yojna Scheme with an outlay of Rs.64,180 crore for a period of 6 years which shall focus on developing capacities of healthcare systems, develop institutions for detection and cure of new and emerging diseases.

The government also proposes to spend Rs 35,000 crore on COVID-19 vaccines and also plans to rollout pneumococcal vaccine across the country, which is expected to reduce 50,000 child deaths every year.

The government has also laid other host of initiatives -Supplementary Nutrition Programme and Poshan Abhiyan 2.0 to be merged and launched as Mission Poshan 2.0, Setting up of Integrated Public Health Labs, establishing critical care hospital blocks, strengthening NCDC, expanding integrated health information portal, etc.

The Union government is also proposing for Introduction of the National Commission for Allied Healthcare Professionals Bill.

However, on the taxation side, the government did not meet the expectations of the industry which looked forward to tax benefits on R&D investments in pharma and lower GST for life-saving drugs.

On the whole, healthcare remained undoubtedly the core theme of Union Budget 2021 and fulfilled the nation’s Sankalp on Healthy India.

Poonam Muttreja, Executive Director, Population Foundation of India

We welcome vision but concerns remain

The announcement of the PM Atma Nirbhar Swasthya Bharat Yojana is a step in the right direction towards strengthening our healthcare capacities and infrastructure. The increased investment of 50,000 crores over 5 years to strengthen research and development will surely put India’s innovation on the global map.

However we must not lose our focus on maternal, child and adolescent health, including family planning. Prioritising social sector spending on women and young people’s health is central to all our futures. It will spur economic growth and recovery by ensuring a healthy population and ensure that the current health crisis does not increase existing gender disparities in access to affordable and quality healthcare.

Rohitashwa Prasad, Partner, J Sagar Associates

If this growth were to be extrapolated, GoI should achieve target healthcare spend of 2.5 – 3 per cent of GDP well before target date

For FY 21 GoI had budgeted Rs. 69,000 crore for healthcare, which was 1.6 per cent of GDP. The budgeted amount for FY 22 shows a significant increase. If this growth were to be extrapolated, the GoI should achieve the target of healthcare spend of 2.5 – 3 per cent of GDP (as envisaged in the National Health Policy 2017) well before its target date. This is quite promising and clearly illustrates the importance that the GoI is placing on the sector spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic.

What is also very commendable is that the GoI has allocated Rs. 35,000 crore for the COVID-19 vaccine as a separate line time. This shows that the GoI has avoided the pitfall of focussing all its resources on tackling communicable diseases at the cost of building healthcare systems generally because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which notwithstanding its materially adverse impact on the health and economy, is an extraordinary event. The GoI has thus avoided the saliency bias which the Economic Survey had warned against.

Prabal Chakraborty, Practice Leader, Healthcare, Praxis Global Alliance

Would expand reach of quality healthcare to a wider population base

Budget 20-21 is growth-oriented. There is a great focus on infrastructure, CAPEX, asset monetisation, and disinvestment. This is extremely encouraging. On the healthcare front, there is a growth of 137 per cent in the overall outlay and is intended to strengthen the healthcare infrastructure at primary, secondary, and tertiary levels. This would expand the reach of quality healthcare to a wider population base. Overall a very positive budget.

Girish Rao, CMD, Vidal Health 

FDI limit in insurance which has increased to 74 per cent is also a positive move

This is clearly the most forward thinking budget in recent times. The fact that healthcare plans were taken up first by the FM shows the importance the government is giving to health of our citizens. Far reaching recommendations will transform public health. The increase in allocation to Rs 2.37 lakh crore was long overdue and we welcome this.

PM-JAY has been a resounding success in bringing awareness and health coverage to large masses. The new Pradhan Mantri Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana (PM-ASBY) with a special focus on building primary, secondary and tertiary care capabilities in rural India will bring attention to much neglected sector. Rs. 64,000 crore allocation over six years is a great beginning and will transform rural India.

There is a need to build technology platforms to bring in large masses under the health care delivery platform. FDI limit in insurance which has increased to 74 per cent is also a positive move. This allocation will allow for more investment in this space.

Special focus in nutrition deficient districts is another excellent initiative. Also the Rs 35,000 crore allocation for COVID-19 vaccination is ensuring equitable distribution of vaccination to all segments of our population.

Anmol Arora, CEO, DocVita

Our country’s digital health ecosystem will leapfrog into the future

137 per cent increase in health budget, and allotment of ₹64,180 crore towards PM Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana will provide the much-needed boost to our country’s health infrastructure. With healthcare at the forefront, and health and wellness taking a centre stage, the 17000 rural and 11000 urban centres are expected to pave the way for a new era in preventive health for India.

As a result of this investment, our country’s digital health ecosystem will leapfrog into the future, and empower every Indian – whether living in rural or urban areas to access healthcare. The new health systems and integrations will help unlock the opportunities for telemedicine as well. This will be one of the world’s largest digital health ecosystems. With this impetus and motivation to health systems, we have the opportunity to lead and set an example for the rest of the world.

Dr Pradeep Mahajan, CMD, StemRx BioScience Solutions

This year’s budget by the Hon’ble Finance Minister is indeed very positive, and committed to the healthcare sector which needed a much needed deliberate boost post unprecedented virus outbreak last year. The announcement of a centrally funded scheme – Aatmanirbhar Health Yojana – with an outlay of Rs 65,000 crore over six years in addition to the National Health Mission is a welcome step towards strengthening primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare in the country.

It is appreciable that the government has been very thoughtful regarding healthcare thereby focussing on curative and preventive health and wellbeing. The allocation this year is a whopping over 130 per cent rise from the budget last year. The proposals would make quality healthcare accessible and affordable, besides standardising, enhancing and elevating healthcare infrastructure across the country

Vivek Sagar, Founder & CEO, HopeQure.com

Hope sizeable amount would be allocated for implementation of Mental Health Act 2017

Health, Hope and Growth, with this in mind, 2021 Budget will be remembered as the Y2K moment in healthcare with FM’s announcement of spending of Rs 2 lakh crore in healthcare. While, we await the fine print, we hope sizeable amount of this would be allocated for implementation of Mental Health Act 2017 as the Budget 2021 focuses on health and well-being, physical and financial capital and infrastructure, inclusive development, reinvigorating human capital, innovation and research and development.

Source: https://www.expresshealthcare.in/news/healthcare-honchos-give-a-thumbs-up-to-the-union-budget/427061/

New Delhi: Health experts have welcomed the government’s increased allocation for the healthcare sector which has seen a substantial rise this time. Unveiling the Union Budget 2021 in the Lok Sabha on Monday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed Rs 2,23,846 crore budget outlay for health and well-being for 2021-22, compared to Rs 94,452 crore in the current fiscal, which is an increase of 137 per cent.

India currently spends about 1 per cent of the gross domestic product on health, which is among the lowest for any major economy. Sitharaman announced that Rs 64,180 crore will be invested over six years to improve primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare. Read on as some health experts and healthcare providers hailed the announcements made by the Finance Minister to give a push to the health sector, from the allocation of Rs. 35,000 crores for COVID-19 vaccine to the announcement of the Mission Poshan 2.0 launch.

Here are some reactions from some health experts and healthcare providers

“It’s a great step ahead, and far-reaching budget announcement, providing Rs 35,000 crore for Covid-19 vaccination in 2021-22. The Finance Minister commitment to providing more funds in order to contain the coronavirus pandemic spread in the country and provide an effective, smooth path for the vaccination scheme will help contain, and lead our nation towards accomplishing a covid-19 disease-free Bharat,” expressed Dr Krishna Ella, Chairman & Managing Director, Bharat Biotech, which developed Covaxin, India’s first indigenous vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2.

“The layout plan of a ₹64,180 crore spending plan for healthcare over the next six years to be spent on primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare, in addition to the National Health Mission is also a welcome move, which will strengthen public health services as 17,000 rural and 11,000 urban health and wellness centres and integrated public health labs to be set up in each district. The government focus, on three areas –  preventive health, curative health and well-being, is also very reassuring,” Dr Ella added.

“India’s efforts in managing the pandemic have been exemplary – our frontline workers and scientists have been working tirelessly to save lives and develop indigenous vaccines. Now the allocation of Rs. 35,000 crores for COVID-19 vaccines and more if required, makes our glorious nation stand tall as a model for the world,” said, Dr Prathap C Reddy, Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group, commenting on the budget.

“After witnessing a health pandemic like never before, the Union Budget 2021-2022  had to be the most crucial one in terms of monetary allocations to the healthcare sector. We applaud the government’s approach of focusing on health and innovations which will play a key role in paving the way for advancements in the seamless delivery of preventive healthcare. The focus on developing capacities for the healthcare systems, robust infrastructures for detection and cure of new and emerging diseases will enable a faster response system to prevent any heath crisis and aid access to quality healthcare across the lengths and breadths of our nation, thus reducing the gap of accessibility,” said Dr (Prof) Deepak Agrawal, senior professor at AIIMS, New Delhi.

“The increase in budget outlay for health and welfare by 137 per cent as compared to the previous year will boost the public health and pharmaceuticals sector. The PM Aatmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana to develop capacities of health care systems, develop institutions for detection and cure of new and emerging disease is the first step to boost rural health and keep the country ready for emergency handling of pandemic situations. The decision to include the pneumococcal vaccine is also a welcome decision, along with the announcement of Mission Poshan to improve nutritional outcomes for children. The Government has taken a much-needed step to be moving in a direction of strengthening healthcare and promoting preventive healthcare. A robust monitoring and implementation plan in place will see the initiatives achieve great success,” said Dr Minnie Bodhanwala, CEO Wadia Hospitals.

“Health, Hope and Growth, with this in mind, 2021 budget will be remembered as the Y2K moment in healthcare with FM’s announcement of spending of Rs 2 lakh crore in healthcare. While we await the fineprints, we hope sizeable amount of this would be allocated for implementation of Mental Health Act 2017 as the Budget 2021 focuses on health and well-being, physical and financial capital and infrastructure, inclusive development, reinvigorating human capital, innovation and research & development,” said Vivek Sagar, Founder & CEO, HeopeQure.com.

“The government’s focus on setting up health emergency centres, urban health and wellness centres and Integrating public health labs will go a long way towards ensuring better healthcare and treatment options. I am also happy that the Government of India has announced Rs 35,000 crore for the Covid-19 vaccine which will help lakhs of poor and middle-class citizens. I am positive that all the measures taken in this budget to make healthcare available to all, will yield a positive impact on the economy. Lastly, let’s not forget the Mission Poshan 2.0 launch that will tackle the malnutrition problems in India especially with the underprivileged and migrant population. Overall, the health and nutrition have received the focus it deserves in the budget,” added Dr Somesh Mittal, Managing Director & CEO, Vikram Hospital Bengaluru.

“One of the key initiatives proposed in this year’s budget is the addition of 17,000 rural and 11,000 urban health and wellness centres which is a supportive move for better patient care and will also pave the way for public-private partnerships. Also, the government has proposed to set up integrated public health labs in each district with 3,382 block public health units across 11 states. Another welcoming move is the outlay of Rs 1.41 crore for the Swach Bharat 2.0 mission which will help improve sanitisation and transform the lives of millions. Though it must be admitted that the government has re-shifted its focus on healthcare in this budget, but considering the rapid integration of digital technology into healthcare, no major developments around digital healthcare or telemedicine was announced,” said Mr Vikram Thaploo, CEO, Apollo Telehealth.

“Budget 2021 will be remembered as the game-changer for healthcare spending in India. The outlay has been more than doubled and the good news is that this will be the new normal for years to come. There is a sense of balance with an emphasis not only on strengthening the healthcare infrastructure but also on building platforms for Research & Innovation in public sector. There is focus on wellness, preventive and on curative care and also on immunization (beyond Covid). Programmes on nutrition (Mission Poshan)  and sanitation (Swachh Bharat) will further strengthen health outcomes. We will have to study the detailed papers to see the envisaged role for the private sector in these initiatives – for instance in the Covid vaccination programme and in building a stronger base for innovation. Investments in digital health infrastructure is, perhaps, the only notable omission in the budget today,” said Mr Akshat Seth, COO, CK Birla Healthcare.

Source: https://www.timesnownews.com/health/article/mission-poshan-2-0-launch-will-tackle-malnutrition-problems-in-india-here-s-what-experts-say-on-health-budget/714562

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman delivered her third Union Budget in Lok Sabha on Monday, February 1.

The FM announced an allocation of Rs 71269 crore for the healthcare sector in the 2021-22, in 2021- 21 the outlay was Rs 69,000 crore (a 3.28 percent increase over last year) and Rs 62,659.12 crore in 2019-20. And since the pandemic ended up increasing last year’s budget expenditure to Rs 78,866 crore, technically, the allocation proposed for the upcoming fiscal year is lower than 2020-21.

The FM speech said,

“The total budget outlay for healthcare is Rs. 2.23 lakh crore. This is an increase of 137 percent from last year. Rs 64,180 crore will be invested over 6 years to improve primary, secondary, and tertiary healthcare. This is in addition to National Health Mission.

The government stretched its resources for the benefit of the poorest of the poor. Health outlay to be used to establish critical care units and hospital blocks. Rs 2,217 crore outlay for 42 urban centers to tackle air pollution.

Vaccines will be rolled out across the country. This will prevent over 50,000 child deaths annually. Rs 35,000 crore for COVID-19 vaccines.

Healthcare, the foremost agendum of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitha­raman’s Budget speech, saw an allocation of Rs 223,846 crore —an increase of around 118 percent over the Revised Estimate — to cover “health and wellbeing” with a large chunk, Rs 35,000 crore, going tow­ard COVID-19 vaccination, a move widely cheered by the industry”.

The increase in allocation pegged at 137 percent by the finance minister was calculated over the Budget Estimate of 2020-21. Much of the increase in this year’s allocation for health and wellbeing is largely attributed to expenditure set aside for COVID vaccination and the finance commission grants for water, sanitation and health, and overall allocation to drinking water and sanitation.

If the cost per dose of vaccine is estimated to be around Rs 250, the government cannot cover more than 200 million people. This has probably been done keeping in mind the low turnout for the national vaccination program.

For the health ministry itself, which spearheaded the pandemic response of India, the allocation has gone down by almost 11 percent. The expenditure budget for the departments of health & family welfare and research has dropped. However, the Revised Estimate itself was about 24 percent more than the budgetary allocation for 2020-21.

The announcement of the launch of a new centrally sponso­red scheme, PM Atmanirbhar Swa­sth Bharat Yojana, with an outlay of about Rs 64,180 crore over six years is likely to boost healthcare infrastructure at the grassroots. “This will develop capacities of primary, secondary, and tertiary care health systems, strengthen existing national institutions, and create new institutions to cater to detection and cure of new and em­e­rging diseases,” Sitharaman said.

The scheme also plans to set up 15 health emergency operation centres and two mobile hospitals and expand the integrated health information portal to all states and Union Terr­itories to connect public health laboratories. The government will also set up a national institution for One Health, a regional research platform for WHO Southeast Asia Region, nine bio-safety level III laboratories and four regional Nati­onal Institutes for Virology as part of the yojana.

The FM announced that it will support 17,788 rural and 11,024 urban health and wellness centres. Building critical care hospital blocks in 602 districts and 12 central institutions is also part of the plan, along with operationalizing 17 new public health units and strengthening 33 existing ones at various points of entry, including 32 airports, 11 seaports, and seven land crossings.

The Centre approved an outlay of Rs 3,800 crore for the hospital in Monday’s Budget when it had allotted Rs 3,490 crore last year. All India Institute of Medical Sciences got a hike of over Rs 310 crore in the Union Budget 2021-22. Apart from AIIMS, Centre has increased the Budget outlay of other major hospitals in Delhi too. Safdarjung has been allocated Rs 1,515 crore, an increase of Rs 227 crore from last year’s Rs 1,318 crore. Ram Manohar Lohia has been allocated Rs 950 crore. The Budget outlay for Lady Hardinge Medical College and Sucheta Kriplani Hospital are Rs 600 crore and Rs 145 crore, respectively.

Though the allocation to the department of research under the health ministry reduced by over 34 percent from Rs 4,062 crore in 2020-21 to Rs 2,663 crore in the Budget 2021-22, the FM announced an outlay of Rs 50,000 crore for the National Research Foundation over five years to “ensure that the overall research ecosystem of the country is strengthened with focus on identified national-priority thrust areas”.

The government also proposed to merge the supplementary nutrition program and the Poshan Abhiyaan to launch the Mission Poshan 2.0 to improve nutritional outcomes across 112 aspirational districts. The Centre will take steps to strengthen the five regional branches and 20 metropolitan health surveillance units of the National Centre for Disease Con­trol, which has played an important role in conducting the sero surveys in the country to understand the spread of coronavirus in the population.

The finance minister also announced pneumococcal vaccine, also known as pneumonia vaccine, will be rolled out across the country from just five states at present. The vaccine is expected to avert more than 50,000 child deaths annually.

Stalwarts respond

P Chidambaram, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha: “Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has deceived the poor, the working class, the migrants, the farmers, the industrial units that had been closed down permanently, and those who had lost their jobs, and there is no heart behind the budget. The opposition parties expressed anguish with the way budget has been structured in the backdrop of a slowdown.

Chidambaram dubbed the claims of increased allocation for health a “conjurer’s trick”. She (Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman) added the one-time cost of vaccination (₹35,000 crore) and the Finance Commission grants amounting to ₹49,214 crore and included the allocations to the Department of Water and Sanitation. Shorn of these add-ons, the allocations for health were ₹72,934 crore in 2020-21 and ₹79,602 crore in 2021-22. Given inflation, the increase is practically nil.

Intentions only
He said people will look through the promises made for States such as Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal where elections are round the corner.

The voters are not fools. They know that these are outlays. These outlays will not be backed by any money in this budget. I challenge the government to show me one line of entry in the expenditure budget providing one rupee for these programs. It will not be there.

The increase in FDI in the insurance sector was inevitable. He reminded the BJP that it had voted against the Bill allowing 20 per cent FDI in insurance in 1997 and then Prime Minister IK Gujral had to withdraw it. Today they have allowed 74 per cent FDI in insurance, which is okay in terms of capital mobilisation. They are also going to privatise one of the major insurance companies. I would like to see the reaction of the employees of the insurance companies and the people.

Missing in middle
If spending takes place on roads and ports, big business will benefit. We welcome spending on infrastructure. But after 12 quarters of slowdown, equal emphasis should have been given to the poor, to the working class, the migrants, agriculture labour and the daily worker. That is completely missing. The budget may have had a mind behind it, but there is certainly no heart behind it.

West Bengal Finance Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Amit Mitra said the Budget is not only visionless but also confused. “The only clarity lies in how to sell off government resources and as a result, inequalities have risen. Informal and unorganised sector has not even been mentioned in the Budget.There is nothing innovative for small and medium units.

He said the Centre has put a cess for agriculture infrastructure, petrol and diesel cess for agriculture. The minute you do cess, you do not have to give the money to the States. From 2.5 per cent of cess and surcharges in the Union Budgets till this government assumed power, it has been raised to 16 percent.

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said the budget is neither for the people nor for much publicised V-shaped revival of the economy, but for a K shaped- rich becoming richer, poor poorer. “Budget projecting self reliance, promotes self subservience to corporate profits through a loot of national assets and large scale privatisation. FDI limits in LIC and financial sector hiked for profit maximisation”.

Dr Alok Roy, Chair, FICCI, Health Services Committee and Chairman Medica Group of Hospitals: “India Inc. and especially the healthcare industry which has been battling the demon of COVID-19 and its aftermath should consider this year’s budget a blessing. Quite rightly, the budget has focused on health and well-being, infrastructural reforms, development of human capital and minimum government and maximum governance. The very fact that government has put health as the first pillar shows that finally it is being considered as the prerequisite to ensure economic well-being of the country. Budget 21-22 seems realistic, constructive, and Hon’ble Finance Minister showed her commitment toward the healthcare sector, which needed a boost urgently. The Aatmanirbhar Health Yojana in addition to the National Health Mission with an outlay of Rs. 64,180 crore over six years is a welcome move, towards strengthening primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare in the country, addressing the preventive, curative, and wellbeing of the population. This will also intend to develop capacities of health care systems, develop institutions for detection and cure of new and emerging disease as the first step to boost rural health and keep country ready for emergency handling of pandemic situations. Further, increasing access to pneumococcal vaccine to all states and budget outlay for health and welfare by the allocation this year of Rs. 2,23,846 crore in the healthcare sector a rise by 137 percent as compared to previous year will prove to be a major increase in the public health and pharmaceuticals sector. This will definitely strengthen the National Centre for Disease Control and make India future ready for any further health crises. With the incorporation of 17,788 rural and 11,024 urban health and wellness centers, the budget rightly addresses the need to reach the last mile population. The decision to set up integrated public health labs in all districts and 3382 block public health units in 11 states along with critical care hospital blocks in 602 districts and 12 central institutions is creditable but more might be required in a country where the patient doctor ratio is abysmally poor. Expansion of the Integrated Health Information Portal to all States/UTs to connect all public health labs is a step ahead toward digitization and is a positive move. India has done exceptionally well considering the density of populace in talking the pandemic. Setting aside INR 35,000 crore and more if required for COVID-19 vaccination drive is laudable and shows that government has prioritized the sector. India unfortunately has the highest mortality rate for children, the decision to launch Mission Poshan 2.0 is a praiseworthy move to prevent over 50,000 child deaths annually. The Rs. 2217 crore outlay for 42 urban centers to tackle air pollution, one of the deadliest pandemic which is obliterating mankind for years and acts as slow poisoning is also commendable. The resolution to set up integrated public health labs in each district about 3,382 block public health units in 11 states is noteworthy. Establishing critical care blocks in hospitals is essential from our learning from the recent pandemic and a right move by the government. Overall the proposals made in the Budget 21-22, would make quality healthcare accessible and affordable, besides standardizing healthcare infrastructure across the country. We await the on ground implementation and operational details of the scheme now.”

Kapil Banga, Assistant Vice President, ICRA Limited: “The budgetary allocation for healthcare sector for FY2022 will translate into 10 percent drop in the allocation, if compared to the RE for FY2021. Nonetheless, the allocation translates to growth of 11 percent, if it is compared to the BE for FY2021. The government has launched PM Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana (PMANSBY) and has also allocated Rs. 35,000 crore towards cost of vaccine. However, as the total allocation towards the healthcare sector has come down vis-a-vis RE for FY2021, this could translate into cutting of expenditure on other avenues within the sector. The continuing modest allocation toward the healthcare sector would make it challenging for the Government to meet its target of public sector healthcare investment of 2.5 percent of the GDP by 2025″. 

Rajiv Nath, Forum Coordinator, Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AiMeD): “Sometimes a crisis helps to come out with bolder decisions. Major fillip to Healthcare through PM Atmanirbhar Swastha Bharat Yojna, PLI scheme, health infra allocation, focus on new and emerging diseases and health labs will surely address major gaps. Finally we may have something to help accelerate medical devices manufacturing as a Make in India enabler so that Indian National Healthcare security concerns are addressed – the inadequacy of which is being exposed in the crisis to address the coronavirus epidemic preparedness. We look forward to read the fine print.

We had been hoping that this will be a Make in India push budget for an Atmanirbhar Bharat and though the FM has highlighted the need to support manufacturing sector to be part of global supply chain and need for it to grow on double digit sustained basis. We, the Indian Medical Device Industry, are disappointed not to notice any changes in custom duty as done for other sectors and are very hopeful that the fine print of the Union Budget would have possibly acted upon our recommendations on a predictable tariff policy for a Make in India push for phased manufacturing plan for components and finished medical devices and allocations for testing infrastructure as well as for MedTech Parks and cluster developments. Supporting policies are needed so that Indian medical devices industry can make quality healthcare accessible and affordable for common masses, aim to place India among the top 5 medical devices manufacturing hubs worldwide and help end the 85 percent import dependence forced upon us and an ever increasing import bill of over Rs. 42000 crore.”

Sanjay Bhutani, Director, MTaI: “The Budget 2021 was presented amidst the unprecedented times of COVID-19 pandemic recovery. In the previous fiscal, entire fiscal management was shaken with the COVID-19 related lockdowns, job losses, financial stimulus and negative GDP growth. In this backdrop the government was faced with doing the balancing job between stimulating economy back to high growth trajectory, job creation and at the same time keeping check on inflation and fiscal deficit (9.5% in 2020-21). From the budget proposal, it seems that the government has done well in keeping with the investment focus and job creation through capital buildup. We also welcome the move towards raising healthcare spends by almost 137 percent, although a good part of this will go towards managing COVID vaccination etc. We are also happy to note that the government has announced the launch of ‘PM Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana’ with a total outlay of Rs 64,180 crore over a period of next 6 years. This will help us with the much needed development of public healthcare systems. The government has done well at showing restrain and not looked at introducing short term tax measures linked to tax mop up like cesses etc. though it was expected that it will take measures at rationalizing some high tax brackets to improve disposable income and boost spending. In terms of finding funds for the investment ramp up which is vital for revival of economy, the government is relying on funds from divestment, high GDP growth estimated with economic buoyancy post with COVID-19 slowdown and better degree of tax compliance and has also taken a longer-term target to reign in fiscal deficit with 2021-22 estimated at 6.8 percent. If these do not go as expected, the affect could be inflationary. A lot will depend therefore on the efficacy of execution, actual GDP growth, disputes settlement and government meeting its privatization targets. Overall, we feel it is a balanced budget that should provide long term tax rate stability, reduce cost of compliance and litigation and goes to building the infrastructure to support high growth.”

Pavan Choudary, Chairman & Director General, MTaI: “The government (DOP, MoHFW, DPIIT and MOF) gave us an equitable hearing and we we are thankful for that. Though we still need to go through the fine print, the budget has put on hold any further increase on customs duty on most medical devices & equipment. The rolling back of the health cess is our other demand which will help us preserve jobs, jobs which are instrumental in making the Healthcare workers become patient ready at the time of a healthcare crisis like this. In similar expression of patient interest, we have also sought that the GST slab for medical devices be brought down from 12 percent to the rate of preferential products i.e. 5 percent. Though these demands have not been accepted yet, we are pleased to note that the budget is reflective of the realization that healthcare is a vital sector and the government is going in a thorough fact finding mode to make evidence based fiscal policy. We are quite sure that this mode will automatically throw up the real performances of various industry groups against their promises. Our performance as a cohort, despite the unintended consequences we faced is evident in this resurging tally of FDI especially since January 1, 2020.

Post pandemics the real estate and healthcare sectors come creatively together and therefore the stress on the former is also salubrious for the emerging epicenters of healthcare like homes, micro-hospitals and step up and step down facilities which will start dotting the healthcare landscape.

Both MTaI and our member companies like Medtronic and Stryker, just to name two, have responded to the clarion call of our PM and have substantially enabled the MedTech startup ecosystem in India through open sourcing vital designs or providing legacy technical knowhow, and we are really gratified to see meaningful support coming for startup finance in the budget. Overall it is a visionary budget.

To bring the health care system fully back on track we need to first of all protect our healthcare workers because it is through them the elective surgeries will come back on course. Part of this frontline team are the MedTech executives who visit Operation theaters and Emergency rooms and other facilities in hospitals daily as part of the procedure and demonstration teams. Due to the nature of their job, these frontline Medical Device workers may even be more susceptible to contracting the coronavirus than some of the other beneficiary groups chosen for vaccination, as they end up working in environments where the treatment of COVID patients is actually happening. When the security guard at the hospital is provided vaccination – which by the way is a commendable and inclusive step – these workers should also be included in the initial vaccination drives. The funding of this drive can come from the healthy Rs. 35,000 crores allocated, or even from the companies which employ them”. 

Charu Sehgal, Partner and Leader, Lifesciences and Healthcare, Deloitte India: “It is very encouraging to see the focus on healthcare in the budget and a 137 percent increase in outlay in healthcare and wellness over last year. There appears to be an integrated attention to epidemiology, diagnostics and treatment at all levels including district and blocks.”

Satyam Shivam Sundaram, Partner, Government and Public Sector, EY India:“Allocation of Rs 2,23,846 crore (137% increase compared to FY 2020-21) toward healthcare is not only in line with the immediate requirement to deal with pandemics like COIVD-19 but also consistent with the National Health Policy 2017, which aspires to increase expenditure on healthcare to 2.5 percent of GDP. Further, the new centrally sponsored scheme ‘PM Aatmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana’ would provide an additional impetus and complement the NHM budgets to accelerate the development of primary, secondary, and tertiary health care infrastructure. It is also heartening to see that there is a special focus with substantially increased allocation on social determinants of healthcare including launch of Mission Poshan 2.0 to improve nutritional outcomes, Jal Jeevan Mission ensuring universal water supply, Urban Swachh Bharat Mission focussing on solid and waste water treatment, source segregation of garbage, reduction in single-use plastic, reduction in air pollution, among others. This increased allocation would not only improve the health outcomes but also go a long way in the achievement of 5 out of 17 sustainable development goals (zero hunger, good health & wellbeing, clean water & sanitation, sustainable cities & communities & climate action).” 

Dr Prathap C Reddy, Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group: “The COVID-19 pandemic was an unprecedented medical crisis and it underlined the importance of building a resilient healthcare infrastructure. Today, the Hon’ble Finance Minister’s said health was her first pillar and her announcements to develop primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare systems, greatly gladdened my heart. This ground-breaking focus on health which will provide access to medical care for all in our country, fuel job creation and boost economic momentum. 

India’s efforts in managing the pandemic have been exemplary – our frontline workers and scientists have been working tirelessly to save lives and develop indigenous vaccines. Now the allocation of Rs. 35,000 crore for COVID-19 vaccines and more if required, makes our glorious nation stand tall as a model for the world.

We must now look at the next crisis of non-communicable diseases, which will be responsible for 80 percent of deaths and cause a USD 3.8 trillion burden to the country by 2030. It is important to focus on prevention, early detection and possible cure to protect Indian families from grief, financial burden and to help the GDP grow. India having proven its clinical excellence, should now focus on clinical trials, research, innovation and technology. There is potential for India to become the largest global health technology center. As an additional opportunity, India can generate employment and be a healthcare service provider for the world.”

Dr Ashutosh Raghuvanshi, Managing Director and CEO, Fortis Healthcare: “This year’s budget celebrates India’s commitment to being ‘Atmanribhar’ and Fortis Healthcare lauds the Hon’ble Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman for the ‘Atmanirbhar Swastha Bharat Yojana’ for which Rs. 64180 crore are being earmarked over 6 years, in addition to National Health Mission, focusing on primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare. The 137 percent increase in the healthcare budget from last year is notable. Further, an infusion of Rs. 35,000 crore for vaccine development and distribution, ensuring preventive health and frontline health and allied workers’ skills building along with surveillance on infectious building, reinforces Government’s assurance on public health programs. We feel that the steps are necessary to boost healthcare infrastructure and the private healthcare sector will continue to stand with India and support the government initiatives”.

Dr K. Hari Prasad, President, Apollo Group – Hospitals: While health is a primary prerequisite for any human being, it never received the importance it deserved. The pandemic has propelled health into the forefront and this is aptly reflected in the budget presented today. The outlay toward prevention, treatment, and wellness is welcome and should impact the health indices positively. Almost the entire budget is targeted at public healthcare infrastructure and facilities and talks about enhancing primary, secondary, and tertiary care. This must improve public healthcare infrastructure and services which is a welcome phenomenon. However the budget has been silent on certain critical aspects of healthcare which we hope will be addressed in due course. Health insurance premiums are increasing and increasing the premium amount for tax exemption would have been a great initiative to increase the number of people covered by health insurance. This would have helped the huge middle-income population in our country. Private health sector which is a significant provider in India has shared the responsibility of fighting COVID with the government. Many private providers particularly the single doctor clinics, nursing homes and smaller hospitals are struggling for survival and deserved some relief in the budget. India was always self-sufficient in terms of availability of high quality healthcare services. Patients from over 200 countries travel to India for healthcare and this adds to the wealth of the nation. Facilitating medical travel into India is another opportunity which should have been leveraged. It is practically impossible to achieve everything in one budget, but it is gratifying to note that a good beginning has been made. I believe this lays the foundation for many other required interventions to improve the health of the nation”.

Vikram Thaploo, CEO, Apollo TeleHealth: “The Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman announced an allocation of Rs. 64,180 crore over the next 6 years for the healthcare sector in the 2021 Union Budget. The budget allocated is in addition to the National Health Mission which is already in effect. One of the key initiatives proposed in this year’s budget is the addition of 17,000 rural and 11,000 urban health and wellness centres which is supportive move for better patient care and will also pave way for more public-private partnerships. Also, the government has proposed to set up integrated public health labs in each district with 3,382 block public health units across 11 states. Another welcoming move is the outlay of Rs. 1.41 crore for the Swach Bharat 2.0 mission which will help improve sanitisation and transform the lives of millions. Considering the government’s effort to curb the pandemic of COVID-19, it has also planned to set aside Rs. 35,000 crore for COVID-19 Vaccine in FY22. Though, it must be admitted that the government has re-shifted its focus on healthcare in this budget, but considering the rapid integration of digital technology into healthcare, no major developments around digital healthcare or telemedicine was announced”.

Cdr Navneet Bali, Regional Director, Northern India, Narayana Health: “The Union Budget this year has clearly announced the paradigm shift in the way we look at the health and wellness in our country. From 137 percent increase in healthcare budget allocation to Rs. 64180 crore spending in next 6 years towards the ‘PM Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana, this is a movement towards making our country more aware about wellness and ensuring that our citizens are more productive. When a country has more productive and healthy citizens it manifests into everything that we do and this budget typically has shown a direction towards how we are headed in the next five to 10 years. Setting up of health and wellness centers in rural and urban India, having integrated public health labs, having a nationwide pneumococcal vaccine which will prevent deaths of over 50000 children to the announcement of Rs. 35000 crore towards vaccines, I think these are very important and critical steps toward that direction. Along with that thinking about clean air missions in 42 urban areas with a million plus population, setting up of critical care hospital blocks 602 districts in India; I think these all are very important steps which will strengthen our healthcare. I think this budget points out that along with spending on treating illness it is also better for the country to work towards wellness and make the citizens healthy and productive. In that way I think this is an extraordinary and great Budget”.

Dr Harish Pillai, CEO, Aster India, Aster DM Healthcare:“The increased investment towards health infrastructure and focus on a holistic approach to health is seen as a testimony of the commitment to building stronger health systems. The launch of the Atmanirbhar Swasthya Bharat Yojana with an outlay of Rs. 64,180 crore will boost the healthcare ecosystem. The investment will aid in developing capacities of healthcare systems, develop institutions for detection and cure of new and emerging diseases. This in addition to the National Health Mission, will support rural and urban health care centres. The all-inclusive approach through the launch of Mission Poshan 2.0 to improve nutritional outcomes and continued focus on cleanliness through Swachh Bharat Mission and potable drinking water through Urban Jal Jeevan Mission will subsequently bolster public health. The commitment to Rs. 35, 000 crore for the COVID-19 vaccination program and the promise to further provide funds if required, will accelerate the vaccination across the population. Strengthening of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and setting up of a National Institution for One Health, Bio-Safety Level III laboratories and regional National Institutes for Virology will provide a thrust for the improvement of the healthcare sector in India, which is commendable. Overall, it is a landmark budget to help fill-up the growing needs of improved healthcare in the country”.

Akshat Seth, COO, CK Birla Healthcare: “Budget 2021 will be remembered as the game changer for healthcare spending in India. The outlay has been more than doubled & the good news is that this will be the new normal for years to come. There is a sense of balance with emphasis not only on strengthening the healthcare infrastructure but also on building platforms for research and innovation in public sector. There is focus on wellness, preventive and on curative care and also on immunization (beyond Covid). Programs on Nutrition (Mission Poshan) & Sanitation (Swachh Bharat) will further strengthen health outcomes. We will have to study the detailed papers to see the envisaged role for private sector in these initiatives – for instance in the COVID vaccination program and in building a stronger base for Innovation. Investments in Digital health infrastructure is perhaps the only notable omission in the budget today.”

Dr Shravan Subramanyam, Managing Director, Wipro GE Healthcare: “It is heartening to see the government’s focus on health and wellness for a Atmanirbhar Bharat. With 137 percent increased budget allocation healthcare has taken center stage for the benefit of citizens of India. We applaud the new budget which takes a holistic view of healthcare to move towards Atmanirbhar Bharat with emphasis on preventive, curative and wellbeing, reducing rural urban divide and capacity enhancement interventions across the value chain. Our endeavor for the past 30+ years have been to ensure quality and affordable healthcare is accessible to the doorsteps of people through our local manufacturing, R&D, digital and skilling efforts delivered through the wide network of sales and services personnel and partners. We wish to partner with the government and other players to strengthen and bring to reality the newly launched Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojna. We continue our promise to be a partner to the government’s effort for a self-reliant India especially during early intervention in the areas of mother & child, cardiology, oncology and trauma & stroke.”

Suresh Vazirani, Founder Chairman & Managing Director, Transasia Bio-Medicals Ltd.: “This is a great budget which recognizes the importance of health and healthcare in a country. The government has made a determined effort to increase India’s current pitiful spending on healthcare to a global standard. Launch of the new Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojna with allocation of Rs 64,180 crore. is indeed a laudable step to focus on prevention of disease rather than just its cure. Hopefully this scheme will enable every Indian whether in a city or in a village for a free health check-up at 17,788 rural and 11,024 urban health centres equipped with diagnostic labs. This would go a long way in helping people prevent disease and thereby help make a Healthy India. A Healthy India can gain at least 2% of GDP which at present is lost due to loss of work days of millions of people. With a huge 137 percent increase in healthcare sector allocation to Rs 2.23 lakh crore, the Finance Minister has shown the Government’s resolve to create a Healthy India. This is something every Indian should feel proud about. As our Hon. Prime Minister had earlier said that “Jaan hai to Jahan hai”, he is now enabling people in India to take care of their Jaan. I do hope that our Finance Minister will not stop at just these two measures, important as they are. Creation of healthy India should be further enabled by reducing the out-of-pocket spend of 70% citizens which is amongst the highest in the world. This can be taken care by reducing the currently very high GST of 12-18 percent, which hospitals and clinics have to pay on purchases of medical devices.

Another crucial area that needs government’s support is to make healthcare affordable for every citizen. But one can’t make a Healthy India, if India remains dependent on imports to a level as high as 70 percent. The only way to make healthcare affordable is to have ‘Make in India’ medical devices. Government needs to change this by incentivizing ‘Make in India’ efforts so that 70% of medical devices are Made in India.”

Himanshu Baid, Managing Director, Poly Medicure Ltd: “Considering that the budget was created in a difficult economic scenario, it is overall a good budget for the healthcare industry. The government has outlaid a budget of Rs. 2.23 lakh crore for healthcare sector, resulting in an increase of 137 percent relative to previous year’s budget. The budget is focused on improving healthcare infrastructure and access to medical care across the nation. It extends support to the various wellness centers and public health labs in small districts. These will lead to better access to basic and quality healthcare facilities to the people in rural areas. Critical care hospital block in 202 districts and 3382 block public health units in 11 states are to be set up which will lead to timely access of urgent care to patients. Rs. 35000 cr. has been allocated for the COVID-19 vaccine which will help contain the disease and lead us towards COVID-19 free nation. Under the “PM Atmanirbhar Swasthya Yojana”, investment on health infrastructure in Budget 2021 has increased substantially. The scheme will focus on developing capacities of healthcare systems, develop institutions for detection and cure of new and emerging diseases. Budget for this scheme has been set at 64,180 cr. over a period of next 6 years which should have been 3 years instead. The government has not taken into consideration to rationalize import duties and GST which could have given boost to local manufacturers. According to the budget, it will be considered from 1st Oct, which should have been done earlier by 1st April. Also, the government has not given any incentives to the domestic players or taken any steps to further local innovation and bolster R&D. We hope that these points pertaining to boost local manufacturing would be addressed by the government in the near future”.

Anand K., CEO, SRL Diagnostics: “I congratulate the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for presenting a dynamic budget that is holistic and integrated with focus on health and well-being, inclusive development, human capital, innovation and R&D, along with primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare. The budget allocation of Rs. 2,23,846 crore for the healthcare sector in the present pandemic context will give the much required impetus to the sector and its very encouraging to see that the government has showcased a positive intent towards strengthen healthcare sector. With a clear thrust on vaccination drive, the additional budget allocation of Rs 35,000 crore for COVID vaccine is expected to strengthen our nation’s battle against the virus. Further, the announcement with regards to setting up integrated public health labs in each district will help in building a cohesive healthcare system. All of these initiatives showcase the government’s commitment to driving an integrated, sustainable, and humane approach to economic growth, that will have long term impact on the health and well-being of generations to come.” 

Arindam Haldar, CEO, Thyrocare Technologies: “We applaud the government for the budget announcement, highlighting Rs 64,180 crore investment over a period of six years to improve primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare, in addition to the National Health Mission. The critical announcement of building 17,000 rural and 11,000 urban health and wellness centres with integrated public health labs in each district marks for a monumental decision and the first step to making healthcare affordable and accessible to all. Healthcare has been bucketed under the six pillars of the Union Budget 2021-22 which underscores the importance of focus on healthcare. Preventive healthcare, is one of the critical areas called out in the budget under health infra, where the investment allotted will further encourage preventive healthcare, which is the need of the hour for our country. We at Thyrocare Technologies encourage preventive health check-ups and screenings to reduce the burden of sick care delivery which proves to be more cost heavy for citizens.”

A Ganesan, Group Vice Chairman, Neuberg Diagnostics: “The honorable finance minister has presented a very progressive budget. With a substantial increase in healthcare outlay, the government has given a much needed shot in the sector’s arm. With a substantial increase in healthcare outlay and key emphasis on public-private partnerships, the entire value-chain in the healthcare sector will gain new momentum and will see major collaborations amongst stakeholders. The announcements of centrally funded – Aatmanirbhar Health Yojana will strengthen our primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare, and setting up of 15 health emergency centers with a focus on curative and preventive health and wellbeing will scale up the delivery of affordable healthcare services”.

Dinesh Chauhan, CEO, CORE Diagnostics: “We hail the Government’s continued commitment towards healthcare & well-being with the new Atmanirbhar Swasthya Yojana, as an addition to the National Health Mission, with outlay of Rs 64,180 crore. This will provide the necessary impetus to the development of primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare and further support the nation to come out of the distress caused by COVID-19. Since it will also be used towards creating modern institutions & labs to cater for detection and cure of new and emerging diseases – the diagnostics industry will have a major role to play and work toward making healthcare more accessible and sustainable . This is a great move towards making healthcare services more democratised and we are committed towards bringing a significant change in the diagnostics space with early diagnosis and outcome-based line of treatment for patients.”

Dr Krishna Ella, Chairman & Managing Director, Bharat Biotech: “ It is a great step ahead, and far-reaching budget announcement, providing ₹35,000 crore for COVID-19 vaccination in 2021-22. The Finance Minister commitment providing more funds in order to contain the Coronavirus pandemic spread in the country and provide an effective, smooth path for the vaccination scheme will help contain, and lead our nation towards accomplishing a covid-19 disease free Bharat.

The lay out plan of a ₹64,180 crore spending plan for healthcare over the next six years to be spent on primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare, in addition to the National Health Mission is also a welcome move, which will strengthen public health services as 17,000 rural and 11,000 urban health and wellness centres and integrated public health labs to be set up in each district.The government focus, on three areas – preventive health, curative health and well-being, is also very reassuring. With this landmark budget the government of India has signalled its intention to make health a cornerstone of the future success of our country. The allocation to vaccines signals a shift to preventive health care, a validation of the fact that vaccines are the most cost effective health care interventions”. 

Sanjiv Navangul, MD & CEO, Bharat Serums and Vaccines Ltd, (BSV): “The union budget has given a substantial increase to bolster the healthcare sector in India. Rs. 35000 crore for COVID-19 vaccine and the commitment to the pneumococcal vaccine to be rolled out nationwide to avert child deaths is a massive boost. A well spent allocation of Rs. 64,000 crore under the new Atmanirbhar Swasthya Bharat Yojana scheme will show significant results thus labelling #healthyindia as an encouraging effort. And, the infrastructural push will certainly create many more skilled jobs revitalizing the overall ecosystem”.

Ashok Patel, Founder & CEO, Max Ventilator. “Keeping in mind the learning curve from COVID-19, the government has done well to finally take the bull by its horns. Raising the healthcare budget by 137 percent at more than Rs. 2.23 lakh crore signals that resolve of the government and was a much-needed measure. More importantly, the government’s inclusion of preventive medicine, curative medicine, and well being implies that it is taking a comprehensive view of health and not adopting an ad-hoc policy stance. The allocation of Rs. 64,000 crore plus funds for Atmanirbhar Health Yojana is also welcome signifying the intent and the will to make the country self-reliant for health. The expansion of PLI scheme with an allocation of Rs. 1.97 lakh crore for the next five years will also impart a boost to the medical device manufacturing in the country”.

Dr Alok Khullar, CEO, Gleneagles Global Health City: “The budget’s focus to strengthen the Indian healthcare infrastructure is really welcoming as it will help us to be well-prepared to handle disease outbreaks/pandemic. This move will reduce the burden on the healthcare workers and ensure increased accessibility for receiving critical and emergency care. Initiatives to promote fitness and sanitation will help in preventing lifestyle issues and reduce the probability of disease outbreak among the rural areas. The proposed set-up for a viability gap funding window to set up hospitals in PPP mode will help healthcare institutions to expand their network to smaller districts. The PM Jan Arogya Yojana would be a real boost that would help the Indian population to receive advanced technology care in their hometowns and reduce their burden of travelling to metro cities. However, the decision to levy a 5 percent cess on import of medical equipment could have been avoided, as it’s used for advanced life-saving measures and helps India to be abreast with high technologies used around the world for healthcare.”

Dr Rohinton Dastur, Director Medical, Bhatia Hospital: “In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the country’s healthcare sector that has been badly affected, required some major boost. Amidst the huge expectations on that front, we must say that the government has delivered positively. The Atmanirbhar Health Yojana that was unveiled will have a financial allocation of Rs. 64,180 crore over six years as announced by the FM. This is a momentous achievement for preventive healthcare. There have also been announcements for the setting up of wellness centres across rural as well as urban parts of the country which is a welcome move. Another very important requirement that the pandemic brought to the fore was the provision for greater investment for preparedness against other health emergencies that may arise in the future, by strengthening diagnostic testing capacities and contact tracing mechanisms. The government has lived up to this expectation where integrated public health laboratories have been announced in various districts and public health units in 11 states. Overall, the allotment of ₹2.35 lac crore is a welcome move especially considering the adverse circumstances caused by the pandemic. Of this, Rs. 35,000 crore has been earmarked for the COVID-19 vaccine, which is of course the need of the hour. Currently, the primary focus has to be on fighting the pandemic by making the vaccine available to all and then building the right infrastructure towards good health and to empower healthcare professionals. One just wishes that it hadn’t taken a pandemic to create this awareness about the importance of the healthcare sector. Had it been realised much before; we would have had a stronger healthcare infrastructure to deal with the pandemic. However, Budget 2021 has definitely brought some positive news for the sector”.

Amol Naikawadi, Joint Managing Director, Indus Health Plus: “The 2021 Union Budget looks optimistic for the healthcare sector. With Aatma Nirbhar Health Yojana, the sector will get a boost from a public health infrastructure standpoint. The initiative will enhance the quality of healthcare and strengthen the national center for diseases control in the country. In addition, due to this, most of the health needs of the low-income group in both urban and rural areas will be taken care of. Besides, Mission Poshan 2.0 and Jal Jeevan Mission will also help in improving public health and wellness. In my opinion, the budget should have also given some preference to private healthcare segment as well that has been a strong pillar of support during the pandemic. Apart from that, the focus should have been more on the prevention of NCDs, which are mostly asymptotic at the early stages but eventually treatment becomes difficult and expensive.

The further fortification by setting up additional 17,000 rural and 11,000 urban health and wellness centers along with integrated public health labs is also a good decision. However, emphasis on the preventive healthcare segment would have lowered the NCDs burden and the overall health expenses of the country.”

Hasmukh Rawal, MD, Mylab Discovery Solutions: “We welcome the FM’s allocation of Rs 64180 crore for the healthcare sector in the Union Budget 2021. The sector has received the focus in the budget it much deserved for so long. With the strengthening of disease control, healthcare information portals, expansion of labs at points of entries, level 3 labs and VRDLs, we believe India is on road to create infrastructure that will serve us for decades. this will help in developing capacities of primary secondary and tertiary care health systems, strengthen existing institutions and create new institutions to cater to detection and cure of new and emerging diseases.”

Dr Shuchin Bajaj, Founder & Director, Ujala Cygnus Group of Hospitals: “The health allocation in the first digital Union Budget presented in the Parliament after the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed over 150,000 people so far, reflects that the government is serious about the steps needed to reach that level of health preparedness. The announcement of the new centrally funded scheme, PM Swasthya Yojana with an outlay of Rs 64,180 crore, will strengthen and develop primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare facilities even in the last miles of our nation. Even the budget outlay of Rs 2,23,846, a 137 per cent increase from the previous year, in health and welfare shows that our budget has no doubt focused on the preventive, curative and holistic healthcare. The allotment of Rs 35,000 crore for COVID vaccine research shows that more vaccines will be rolled out for the common masses and soon we will have a corona-free nation.”

Dr Rajat Arora, Founder Director – Genestrings Diagnostics Center & Yashoda Hospital: “The healthcare community in India is happy to see the long-overdue focus on the sector finally taking an important part in the budgetary outlay. The increase of 137 percent in the healthcare sector budgetary outlay is unprecedented, not only in the history of India but anywhere in the world. The Rs 35,000 crore outlay for COVID-19 vaccines will certainly boost the confidence of healthcare workers as well as common people and is a decisive step toward resuming economic activities and tread on the path of growth. The capability-increasing measures such as setting up of integrated public healthcare laboratories in 11 states, a country-specific Indian center for disease control and prevention, 9 biosafety 3-level laboratories, and 4 regional National Institute of Virology across the country will play a significant role in not only addressing the current disease scenario but will also help in addressing the emerging challenges and the future pandemics. The focus on digitization in the form of expansion of health information portals is also a welcome step and will pave the way for the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM)”.

Dr Anand Bansal, Medical Director at Action Group of Hospitals: “Amid COVID 19 pandemic the sudden and unprecedented changes the world had to go through, this budget was keenly awaited especially for the announcements in regards to the health sector. Healthcare is certainly a top priority of this budget as 137 percent hike in health & wellness budget has been announced. Our health sector needs more expenditure and infrastructure development. With the announcement of PM Atmanirbhar Health Yojana worth around Rs. 64000 crore we are certainly going to witness more inclusive growth in our healthcare in upcoming years, which is full of challenges in the current scenario. Also the amount of Rs. 35000 crore announced for COVID 19 vaccine will strengthen this fight against pandemic. As per health concerns this budget is satisfactory and full of vision, considering the challenges our healthcare is facing, things will surely need time to reflect results on a larger scale”.

Dr Dharminder Nagar, Managing Director, Paras Healthcare: “The Budget 2021 has certainly focused more on healthcare than the previous budget. With an objective to improve healthcare infrastructure, the government allocated Rs. 64,180 crore will be invested over a period of six years to improve primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare in addition to National Health Digital Mission. This can lead to bringing in more hospitals under Ayushman Bharat more in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities for the benefit of the poor in these areas. One of the key initiatives proposed in this year’s budget is the addition of 17,000 rural and 11,000 urban health and wellness centres which is again a great move towards enhancing access to healthcare. Also, the government has proposed to set up integrated public health labs in each district with 3,382 block public health units across 11 states. The outlay of Rs. 1.41 crore for the Swachh Bharat 2.0 mission which will further help in the enhancement of sanitisation standards across the country. To effectively curb the pandemic of COVID-19, the government has also planned to set aside Rs. 35,000 crore for COVID-19 Vaccine in FY22. Overall, it’s been an encouraging move from the government to promote healthcare in India with a holistic vision”.

Dr Swadeep Srivastava – Founder & CEO – HEAL Health Connect Solutions: “Owing to the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic and the public health emergency created, a significant increase of 137 percent in the healthcare budget was very much expected. The pandemic has taught us that there are no choices other than large scale public investment in building primary health centres, hospitals at the district and grassroots levels. The allocation of Rs. 2.24 lakh crore for healthcare in the budget 2021-22 will be the hallmark as Health and well-being is one of the key pillars of this year’s budget proposal. Government’s three focus areas in the health segment as mentioned by the finance minister were preventive, curative and well-being, which is the need of the hour. The allocation of Rs. 35,000 crore for COVID-19 vaccines is another big step to curb the rate of infection. The proposal in the budget for PM Atmanirbhar Swastha Bharat with an outlay of Rs. 64,180 crore over six years in addition to the Centre’s National Health Mission program is another visionary step to build the capacity of primary, secondary and tertiary level health care facilities, to handle new emerging diseases. The proposal to launch an improvised Mission Poshan 2.0, and to merge some of the other nutrition-related programs to give this initiative a boost considering malnutrition as one of the primary concerns in India because of which many health-related indicators are still not improving, is another welcome move”.

Kamal Narayan Omer, CEO, IHW Council: “The most noteworthy aspect of the healthcare outlay this year is a distinct integration of health and wellbeing with causative factors such as nutrition and clean air. This is a marked departure from the previous budget where curative features received the lion’s share of the outlay. This change in approach, driven by the once-in-a-century pandemic, augurs well for the overall healthcare landscape of India. The massive 137 per cent increase in the budgetary outlay with a dedicated corpus of Rs 35,000 crore for COVID-19 vaccines was a much needed step and I congratulate the government on stepping away from the stock approach to healthcare. Recognizing the interlinking of health and socio-economic and environmental factors such as malnutrition, safe water and air pollution also deserves a special mention — it will help reduce the burden of infectious diseases as well as fatal non-communicable diseases such as lung cancer which has been tightening its grip on the Indian population for some time now.”

Dr Tushar Grover, Medical Director, Vision Eye Centre: “On the back of the ongoing battle against COVID, there is no doubt that by raising the healthcare budget by 137 percent, the government has sent a huge signal. This was a long pressing need. Besides the National Health Mission, the Atmanirbhar Health Yojana with Rs. 64,000 crore plus funds is again commendable. The establishment of central institutions, the connection of public health labs and 15 health emergency operation centers will go a long way in addressing the needs of the health sector. The fact that the government has spoken of preventive health, curative health and well being altogether implies that all grounds have been covered. The Rs. 35,000 crore allocation to vaccines again reaffirms government’s commitment to stem the Covid challenge.”

Dr Somesh Mittal, Managing Director & CEO, Vikram Hospital Bengaluru: “We see this budget as a positive step in the right direction for healthcare sector. The allocation for Aatmanirbhar Health Yojana with an outlay of Rs 64,180 crore over six years in addition to the National Health Mission, is a welcome move. The government’s focus on setting up Health Emergency Centres ,Urban Health and Wellness centres and Integrating public health labs will go a long way toward ensuring better healthcare and treatment options. I am also happy that the Government of India has announced Rs 35,000 crore for Covid-19 vaccine which will help lakhs of poor and middle class citizens. I am positive that all the measures taken in this budget to make healthcare available to all, will yield a positive impact on the economy. Lastly, let’s not forget the Mission Poshan 2.0 launch that will tackle the malnutrition problems in India especially with the underprivileged and migrant population. Overall, the health and nutrition has received the focus it deserves in the budget.”

Vishal Bali, Executive Chairman, Asia Healthcare Holding: “Healthy India is core to India’s economic growth reflected in the 137 percent increase in outlay for health at Rs 2,23,846 crore in budget 2021. The focus on healthcare with ‘Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana’ with an outlay of Rs 64,180 crore over 6 years shows that healthcare capacity building is now a key priority for the government. The Rs. 35,000 crore earmarked for COVID 19 vaccination drive will create the safety net for the country. The overall capital expenditure increase of 26 percent should drive infrastructure acceleration, the much needed GDP growth driver. Insurance sector which is an important pillar for any country should see an exponential growth with enhancement of FDI limit to 74 percent from 49 percent. Overall a forward looking budget to drive the 11 percent GDP growth for India in FY22 as pegged in the Economic survey 2020.”

Varun Sheth CEO & Co-founder Ketto.org: “The proposed healthcare budget is a big move to boost the country’s healthcare infrastructure. The pandemic has brought the healthcare system to the center stage, the allocation of Rs 2,23,846 crore, which is 137 percent higher than the previous budget is a major move. Additionally, the announcement of PM AtmaNirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana with an outlay of Rs. 64,180 crore to develop the capacities of primary, secondary, and tertiary care Health Systems to build better capacity to combat future pandemic is a welcome step. However, it was surprising to see the government’s significant schemes such as the Ayushman Bharat and Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) remained severely underfunded. The recent economic survey has emphasized a hike in public spending on healthcare services to reduce out of pocket expenditure (OOPE) from the current level of 65 percent to 35 percent. India has one of the highest levels of OOPE in the world, contributing to high medical expenditure which drives millions of families into the depths of poverty every year. In recent years, medical crowdfunding has played an instrumental part for such families, enabling them to afford quality medical care for their loved ones. It is encouraging to see that the government is prioritizing preventive care and well being, however, India needs a long term policy to build a healthcare ecosystem that enables quality and affordable healthcare to all.”

Dr Gautam Sen, Chairman & Founder, Healthspring:“This Government ever since it came to Power has been giving importance to basic health issues like Public Health in “Swatccha Bharat” addressing better sanitation for all, Ayushman Bharat by Financing Tertiary Care Expenses for those who are below the poverty line, the ‘Pradhan Mantri Jana Aushadhi Yojana” where Generic Medicines are made extremely affordable and culminating into “Health Policy 2017” where it rightly gives importance to Wellness and Health and invites all section of Healthcare Providers to participate in Nation’s Health Outcomes. The present Budget brings back the focus on Preventive Health again which should not be misinterpreted as a signal to build more and more sophisticated hospitals sophisticated equipment with diminishing returns in health outcomes of a nation instead, focus on keeping an individual healthy and spending money on it. This can only happen if we have a Robust Primary Care System in the midst of a community and not a downgraded and neglected PHC as is present today. Performance Linked Incentive is another ingenuine method of financing which should be applied to the health sector as well. Any healthcare provider who provides better health outcomes in the community it serves which can be measured- must be incentivised and rewarded for better performance with the Accountability principle for all the stakeholders- the receiver, the provider and the institution which is financing the system. With these positive inputs in the present budget, we are in the path of Atmanirbhar Bharat”.

MB Bureau

Source: https://www.medicalbuyer.co.in/union-budget-2021-22-announcement/

With reports now showing the new UK COVID-19 strain to be associated with a higher degree of mortality, Health experts said, India needs to stay vigilant

New Delhi: With reports now showing the new UK COVID-19 strain to be not just more infectious but also associated with a higher degree of mortality, health experts have cautioned that Indians need not panic over the mutations, but the country needs to stay vigilant.

So far 150 people in India have tested positive for the UK variant of coronavirus, according to the Union Health Ministry on Saturday. This is despite India temporarily suspending all flights from the UK for about a week earlier in the month and also increasing screening measures for travellers from that country later.

However, India’s total active case-load has continued to show downward movement over the past few weeks as the numbers on Saturday dropped to 1.85 lakh.

India’s present active case-load consists of just 1.74 per cent of India’s total positive cases. But the fear of the new UK strain spreading faster in the country has become a cause for concern in some quarters.

“We have now learned that, in addition to spreading more quickly, the new variant of the virus may also be associated with a higher degree of mortality,” UK PM Boris Johnson said in a tweet on Friday.

However, health experts here have said that Indians have no reason to panic. “The new strain of the COVID virus is among one of the new strains that will come up in the future. So the approach to ensure prevention of infection from these strains is to always be vigilant and maintain measures of social distancing, hand hygiene and wearing a mask,” Richa Sareen, Consultant, Pulmonology and Critical Care Medicine, Fortis Hospital Vasant Kunj, New Delhi said.

“The new vaccine is known to be protective against these new strains, as well. So there is no need to panic,” Sareen said, advising people to just keep calm and adopt preventive measures.

The government is “taking adequate measures of quarantining the people who come in from outside and of doing gene sequencing, and then isolating these patients separately,” she pointed out.

The UK prime Minister also said that the current vaccines are still effective against the new variant.

“We should be vigilant about it (the new UK variant) as we have done in the past, but we need not panic as vaccination process also started and from what we have learnt from the experts, the present vaccine is good enough for the new variants also,” said Arun Kumar P, Senior Consultant at Apollo Telehealth.

He said that new variants are common in this group of viruses as is the case with influenza virus. “The right approach to deal with this is to have regular monitoring of new cases and to be alert if there are any large clusters of cases at single place and taking samples from there for genomic sequencing and to impose strict measures in such areas till results are out to avoid further spread of new strain if one such is existent,” he said.

“It is also important to complete the process of the vaccination at the earliest which will achieve the desired goal of elimination of virus from the community.” Puneet Khanna, HOD and consultant, Respiratory Medicine, HCMCT Manipal Hospitals in Dwarka, New Delhi, however warned that if the new strain spreads in the community, it will definitely lead to a surge of COVID cases again.

“The approach to dealing with these threats is that we should be having the same kind of precautions which had earlier,” Khanna said.

“That is that we should observe strict social distancing, frequent hand washing and cover our face and mouth while sneezing and talking. Also, always wear masks in public places or in closed places.” (IANS)

Source: https://www.sentinelassam.com/national-news/farm-agriculture-bill-farmer-protest-live-update-522582?infinitescroll=1

The pandemic is expected to bring a sharper focus on health care in the upcoming Budget (2021-22) from a meagre spend of 0.3 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP). This could be driven by the rollout of the coronavirus vaccine in the country — the biggest such exercise in the world.

Together with states, the share of public health expenditure remained stagnant at around 1.15 per cent of GDP over the years. The National Health Policy of 2017 envisioned this expenditure at 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2025. How­ever, the Centre’s share remained aro­und 0.3 per cent of GDP 

Read More: business-standard.com/budget/article/covid-19-likely-to-bring-a-sharper-focus-on-health-care-in-upcoming-budget-121011300005_1.html

Budget 2021 Expectations: As Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is getting ready for the Union Budget presentation on 1st February 2021, she will have to come across a huge number of demands from all sectors, as it would be the first budget post-COVID-19 lockdown. During lockdown, PM Modi has batted strongly for an ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ and medical companies have demanded from the FM to keep that in mind while making this years’ budget. They have redressal of taxation policies like raising import duties on medical devices, abolition of custom duties on raw material imported to be used in the manufacturing of medical devices domestically, abolition of healthcare cess, etc.

Speaking on his wish list from FM Nirmala Sitharaman in Budget 2021; Ashok Patel, Founder & CEO, Max Ventilators sid, “In continuity with the spirit to promote indigenization with the larger goal of moving towards an Atmanirbhar Bharat, the government could consider raising import duties on medical devices valued at less than 50 lakhs to a flat 25 per cent from the existing 0 to 10 per cent. As a corollary, it should also abolish custom duties on raw material imported to be used in the manufacturing of medical devices domestically. With the 5 per cent healthcare cess and social welfare surcharge amounting to anything between 1.5 to 2 per cent, the cost of the raw material in total rises by about 7 per cent rendering the final domestic product somewhat less competitive.”

Demanding attention for telemedicine and home healthcare; Vikram Thaploo, CEO, Apollo TeleHealth said, “The present taxation policies and regulations do not cover telemedicine, home healthcare and the cost of diagnostic tests along with other at-home aspects continue to come directly from out of pocket expenses. This is another area that will require the necessary attention in the upcoming budget.”

Source: https://www.zeebiz.com/india/news-budget-2021-expectations-medical-companies-want-redressal-of-taxation-policy-from-fm-nirmala-sitharaman-145745

NEW DELHI: Although the vaccination drive for Covid-19 is all set to begin in the country from January 16, the highly contagious virus is still posing a threat towards the immunity of individuals including their respiratory systems which is its main target in the human body.

The air quality of the city, on the other hand, is slipping to severe categories further attacking the respiratory systems of the people living in the city.

With the smog situation coupled with the threat of coronavirus, people in the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi are at a higher risk of developing respiratory ailments.

ANI spoke to a few doctors and health care experts to get some tips on how people can keep up with their health amid the growing health concerns.

Read more at:
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/heres-how-you-can-protect-your-health-against-air-pollution-covid-19/articleshow/80198021.cms

Union Budget 2021-22 Expectations for Health: Covid pandemic tested the endurance and strength of India’s public healthcare system. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi repeatedly lauded the role and capacity of India’s healthcare system in tackling a disease of such magnitude. However, the prevalent Covid pandemic has once underscored the need to have well-synchronized healthcare set up in a country like India.

In the upcoming February 1 Budget 2021, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharam must recognize the crucial role played by Telemedicine during Covid and make announcements to further boost the financing of the medical devices industry.

“The Modi government had pushed for affordable and accessible healthcare and we are hopeful that Budget 2021 will also include plans to realize this vision. We hope to see increased spending on healthcare with a systematic and extensive revamp of the healthcare infrastructure. Telemedicine played a crucial role during the pandemic turning out to be the safest interactive system between patients, both infected and uninfected, and clinicians. With the Indian healthcare industry on a progressive track and technology expected to continue to make in-roads, more medical colleges are expected to be set-up, with mandatory inclusion of telemedicine in the course details. Other than that, the upcoming budget is also expected to encourage the setup of hub facilities in government medical colleges in various states for enabling telemedicine services,” Vikram Thaploo, CEO Apollo Telehealth, Apollo group said.

“Under the promising new schemes like Ayushman Bharat, we expect a further 30 percent conversion of PHC (Primary Health Centre) and sub-centers to HWC (Health and Wellness Centre). Ten crore Indian families are already a part of the scheme and the government is anticipated to increase the number of hospitals by establishing more facilities and extend the implementation of services for utilization of Tele-OPD services and PPP projects under the Ayushman Bharat wing, which will directly increase the budget for the sector,” Thaploo said ahead of Union Budget 2021.

“The present taxation policies and regulations do not cover telemedicine, home healthcare and the cost of diagnostic tests along with other at-home aspects continue to come directly from out of pocket expenses. This is another area that will require the necessary attention in the upcoming budget,” Thaploo said ahead of Budget 2021.

“Firstly, as a manufacturer of a key lifesaving medical device such as ventilators and related equipment, we deeply appreciate what the government has done so far to boost the domestic manufacturing of ventilators. However, now that the budget is less than a month away, we expect the government to even go a step further. For instance, in continuity with the spirit to promote indigenization with the larger goal of moving towards an Atmanirbhar Bharat, the government could consider raising import duties on medical devices valued at less than 50 lakhs to a flat 25 percent from the existing 0 to 10 percent. As a corollary, it should also abolish custom duties on raw material imported to be used in the manufacturing of medical devices domestically. With the 5 percent healthcare cess and social welfare surcharge amounting to anything between 1.5 to 2 percent, the cost of the raw material in total rises by about 7 percent rendering the final domestic product somewhat less competitive,” Ashok Patel, Founder and CEO, Max Ventilator said.

“Furthermore, the government should also come up with preferential policies in terms of financing of medical devices such as easy loans, long-term maturity etc. In addition to providing for government-backed warehousing facilities at city levels for medical device manufacturers, any government tender for medical devices must reserve at least 60 percent of the total contract value, irrespective of the actual amount, for domestic manufacturers in terms of procurement. These measures would further catalyze the ongoing drive towards accomplishing an Atmanirbhar Bharat,” Patel said.

Source: https://www.financialexpress.com/budget/budget-2021-expectations-fm-nirmala-sitharaman-must-provide-budget-funds-for-telemedicine-medical-devices-industry/2168606/

While there has always been a correlation between the health of the population and the economy, never has it been more apparent.

COVID-19 has pushed healthcare to the forefront of every organization’s agenda. Businesses across the world have adapted to telecommuting, reconfigured work environments and logistics, and updated operating protocols to cope with the effects of the global pandemic. While there has always been a correlation between the health of the population and the economy, never has it been more apparent. Governments across the world have realized that investing in the health of the population can not only improve quality of life and mitigate the risks of public health crises, but also lead to greater economic returns and productivity.

The pandemic is set to cause 4.5 percent permanent loss to India’s GDP, according to experts. Poor health and loss of productive potential amongst the working population will only make things more difficult. If we want to achieve health improvements and minimize economic losses, then we need to shift the focus to preventive care. A large percentage of economic benefits can be achieved with safer work environments, by encouraging workers to adopt healthier lifestyles, and by increasing access to medicines and preventive care. The rest will come from timely treatment of diseases with proven treatments.

The shift to prevention is easier said than done. Not only does it necessitate the need to shift incentives in existing healthcare systems to health promotion, but it also foregrounds the need to make better health a policy prerogative. The pandemic has also highlighted the importance of tackling NCDs, which have been one of the leading causes of disease complications. NCDs are responsible for 61 percent of deaths in the country, and we need to focus on scaling up NCD screening programs and awareness drives to address chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension, obesity, heart and lung diseases, stroke, and cancer. A paradigm shift in focus to preventive care can be realized at a low cost and the implementation costs will be more than offset by the gains to productivity in healthcare delivery.

Time to rethink healthcare architecture

The pandemic has demonstrated that it is possible to rethink healthcare service delivery. Rethinking workforce and patient flow in COVID-19 wards and a transition to teleconsultations are just two notable transitions. People are already demonstrating that it is not that difficult to induce a behavioral change by demonstrating their readiness to wear masks, prioritize hand hygiene, and reduce person-to-person interactions to help curtail the spread of the virus.

The pandemic has also fast-tracked innovation and collaboration by scientists across the globe. If this is sustained, it can help us address major health conditions like cardiovascular diseases, cancers, and mental health disorders. As of September 2020, scientists have shared more than 50,000 genome sequences and close to 200 vaccines are in different stages of development. Many of these are the result of multi-sectoral, trans-national collaborations. Companies are playing a key role in the ongoing transformation. Pharma giants, healthcare providers, and the medical tech industry are an integral part of the pandemic response. They should further come up with ways to build on the innovations and help do their part in the ongoing remodeling of healthcare systems, ensuring alignment of incentives and efficient collaboration to improve the overall health and prosperity of the population.

The corporate world needs to adapt

Companies outside the healthcare domain are also adapting to the crisis by revamping their organizational workflow and operation models. There is a strong economic case to be made for the need to invest in the health of their employees. In today’s fast-paced and hectic corporate world, the occupational risks are increasingly linked to mental health triggers, sleep hygiene, and the level of physical activity, with mental health fast becoming a concern as the economic uncertainty associated with the pandemic is beginning to take its toll. Chronic conditions like migraines, back pain, and mental health problems like anxiety and depression can reduce the productivity of workers and have a negative effect on the quality of life. Companies should seriously consider providing greater access to mental health services and more flexible working hours.

Encouraging workers to take advantage of telehealth and virtual programs is the first step. Times like these bring a lot of uncertainty and anxiety, and people feel the need to talk to a counselor. The mobility restrictions not only make that more difficult but also end up exacerbating symptoms of anxiety. That is precisely where telehealth comes into play. It will help people cope better in times of crises, and induce a behavioral change in their attitudes towards seeking remote help, which is necessary as we increasingly adapt to a digitally mediated life. By offering telehealth benefits, organizations will have an engaged and productive workforce while employees benefit from a convenient and readily accessible form of healthcare. It will be an integral component of employee well-being plans in the future.

Source: http://bwhealthcareworld.businessworld.in/article/Integrating-Telemedicine-into-Employee-Health-Programs/15-12-2020-353812/

Relentless innovation is the key to create value across every industry and the healthcare industry is certainly no exception. The healthcare industry in India has been a late adopter of technology which is why the implementation of several initiatives that relied on the use of technology faced some major obstacles.

The adoption of different forms of technology is crucial for increased efficiency, expanded access and improved outcomes. While telemedicine is one area where we are now seeing increased use of telecommunications and medical technology, there is a dire need to adopt the same attitude across every segment of the healthcare industry to ensure better healthcare, quality and deliverability.

Working with the intention of enhancing the healthcare deliverables, Apollo TeleHealth is one of the industry leaders in the telemedicine sector.

Under the leadership of Vikram Thaploo, CEO of the company, Apollo TeleHealth is taking giant strides towards achieving its mission and goals. How is it doing that? Let’s read in the below exclusive Interview with Insights Care:

IC Team: Please brief our audience about your company, its values, vision, and mission.

Vikram: Apollo TeleHealth is the oldest and largest multispecialty telemedicine network in South Asia. Being a pioneer in telemedicine, we serve both rural and urban communities ensuring that quality health services are available to all. We offer telehealth services like Teleconsultations, Tele-Emergency, Tele-ICU, Tele-Radiology, Tele-Condition Management, Tele-Cardiology, and many more.

Apollo TeleHealth is like a close-knit family guided by the values of Compassionate Care, Trustworthy Spirit, Excellence, Proactive Involvement and Pioneering Attitude. Our values unite us and hold us for a common cause which is to provide quality services to a globalised populace by facilitating the interactions through innovative use of technology. Our mission and vision are to provide healthcare accessibility to a wide population base, even in the remotest corners by using state-of-the-art technologies to ensure a healthier tomorrow.

IC Team: What are the prominent solutions and products that make your company stand out from the competition?

Vikram: Apollo Telehealth empowers its patients with integrated healthcare delivery to offer services like Teleconsultations, Tele-Emergency, Tele-ICU, Tele-Radiology, Tele-Condition Management, Tele-Cardiology, and others. By blending in advanced medical devices, IT and quality clinical services, Apollo Remote Healthcare is empowering its patients to get effective treatment without the need to step out of their homes.

Our approach to evidence-based quality healthcare supported by high end connected and state-of-the-art devices and clinical protocols have given us an edge in medical expertise with a massive presence across India.

Since the telehealth service is an offshoot of Apollo’s integrated healthcare delivery system, we certainly have the edge of being the leaders offering critical services like Tele-Emergency and Tele-ICU as well as regular services such as Tele-Consultancy, Tele-Condition Management, Tele-Radiology, Tele-Cardiology, etc. This is what helps us to strengthen our position in the market and remain the leaders.

IC Team: Brief us about the featured person(s) and their journey in the healthcare industry.

Apollo TeleHealth Team: A veteran with extensive experience in setting up sustainable business models and strategizing innovative projects, Mr. Vikram Thaploo is a successful business leader who is presently in charge of Apollo’s Remote Healthcare Vertical. He has more than twenty years of experience working for some of the most prestigious organisations that span across diverse industries like retail, healthcare, and hospitality.

As the CEO of Apollo TeleHealth, he is hailed for his efforts to put in place a sustainable business model that delivers quality healthcare services to all, be it for people from the rural parts of the country or the urban areas. With his knack for excellence and implementation of successful business operations, his objective is to provide affordable healthcare services by bringing together Medtech ecosystems, telecom, and technology. ASSOCHAM awarded ‘Leadership Award of the Year’ to Mr. Vikram Thaploo and he won the accolade for ‘CEO of the Year’ which was presented by Healthcare Achievers and Leadership Award, among many such awards.

IC Team: Taking into consideration, the current pandemic, and its impact on global economies, how are you driving your organization to sustain operations and ensuring safety of your employees at the same time?

Vikram: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected businesses and economies across the world. It is now more important than ever to refocus on business operations to maintain seamless business continuity. We are adopting a collaborative, pragmatic approach to adapt ourselves to new ways of running a business and ensure that things are happening in an empathetic, timely manner. We are also following an active communications strategy to employees, suppliers, clients, and partners so that business operations remain free from hurdles.

Our primary focus is the safety and health of our employees, their family, and our Apollo community as-a-whole. We have been adhering to safe work practices and a safe work environment ever since we became a part of Apollo. Keeping in mind the present situation, we have implemented different measures to prevent the risk of spread and provide a safe, healthy environment for our employees. No delay in salaries, adequate insurances and flexibility in their areas has been a motivation for employees.

IC Team: What do you think could be the future of Telehealth technologies and solutions market post the COVID-19 pandemic?

Vikram: The widespread adoption and popularity of telehealth services is a clear indication of the fact that it is here to stay. Instead of just being viewed as another technological fad, telehealth should be an enabler that would support the overall healthcare delivery system. With advancements in technology happening at a fast pace, I believe that telehealth will turn out to be one of the most useful clinical tools for increased operational efficiencies and better patient care.

As healthcare providers look for ways to cut-down healthcare costs while maintaining their quality of service, they will need to adjust to changes like telehealth to better meet the needs of their patients. With several countries and states set to adopt meaningful telehealth legislation over the coming months, the future of telehealth certainly looks promising. Telehealth is the only means to provide continuum of care.

IC Team: What would be your advice to the emerging entrepreneurs aspiring to enter the healthcare industry?

Vikram: Clear vision and passion are two of the most essential qualities to be successful in any business. Another important factor is how much time you are investing to learn the subject in-depth. Being an entrepreneur, one must understand that there are no rule books or guides to move from one step to another. There will be moments of uncertainty and doubt, but the idea is to move ahead even if there are failures.

My advice would be to keep your goal in sight and fuel it with perseverance. Telehealth is a promising sector where people from the medical field as well as IT can make their presence felt. There is a vast pool of opportunity waiting to be explored, so just believe your instincts, and turn your dream into reality.

IC Team: Where do you envision your organization to be in the long run and what are your future goals?

Vikram: What we started as an initiative to provide healthcare services at reasonable prices to people in villages across India has now turned into a comprehensive development that spans across rural and urban geographies, globally. With telemedicine being gradually recognized as a feasible solution to quality healthcare accessibility, we are partnering with different state governments to address the healthcare needs of the population.

We will continue to focus on the digitalization of healthcare with IoT, AI-enabled platforms, CDSS, IoMT and machine learning (ML) to expand the reach of telemedicine to every corner of the country. Presently we have our presence across 350,000 touchpoints in India along with 50 prominent cities and 48 countries having touched over 12 million lives. We want to take this further by touching more than one billion lives and expand the reach of telehealth services.

Source: https://insightscare.com/apollo-telehealth-transforming-indian-telemedicine-space-dynamically/

Source: https://www.dailypioneer.com/2020/columnists/reimagine-healthcare.html

1. Asian News International (ANI): https://www.aninews.in/news/health/on-world-aids-day-here-are-some-lessons-from-fight-against-aids-for-combating-covid-1920201201161028/
2. Hindustan Times: https://www.hindustantimes.com/health/on-world-aids-day-here-are-some-lessons-from-fight-against-aids-for-combating-covid-19/story-AmumHZwGz0f7yvAekexHKN.html
3. The New Indian Express: https://www.edexlive.com/news/2020/dec/01/what-we-can-learn-fromhumanity-medicines-fight-against-hiv-in-order-to-fight-covid-19-16261.html
4. BW Businessworld: http://www.businessworld.in/article/On-World-Aids-Day-here-are-some-lessons-from-fight-against-AIDS-for-combating-Covid-19/01-12-2020-348712/
5. NDTV Swatchh India: https://swachhindia.ndtv.com/world-aids-day-2020-here-are-some-lessons-from-fight-against-aids-for-combating-covid-19-53829/amp/

The Business of Humanity® and Apollo Telemedicine Networking Foundation Project Tuver Health & Wellness Center (THWC) in Gujarat, India is continuing its operations during COVID-19. The THWC has completed its 19th month of operations and has assisted over 8,900 beneficiaries! Please click on the link to read the latest updates:

• The Week: https://www.theweek.in/wire-updates/national/2020/09/29/des72-dl-virus-lifestyle.html
• Outlook: https://www.outlookindia.com/newsscroll/pandemic-stress-sedentary-lifestyle-causing-health-issues-in-people-doctors/1945578
• Bloomberg: https://www.bloombergquint.com/coronavirus-outbreak/pandemic-stress-sedentary-lifestyle-causing-health-issues-in-people-doctors
• NEWS18: https://www.news18.com/news/india/pandemic-stress-sedentary-lifestyle-causing-health-issues-in-people-doctors-2920049.html

COVID-19 has highlighted many flaws and inadequacies. It has also shone the spotlight on innovators and new processes while allowing us glimpses into what the future could look like. Where is the healthcare ecosystem heading?

500 percent. This is the percentage increase in online medical consultation between March 1st and May 31st in India according to a report released by Practo. In terms of pure numbers, this translates to roughly five crore Indians, of which 80% were first-time tele-patients, resulting in a 67% drop in in-person visits. Although only 7.5% of all online consultations were related to COVID-19, the virus may be attributed to this digital trend.

What could this possibly mean?

Mr. Vikram Thaploo, CEO, Apollo TeleHealth said, “During the pandemic, we have seen a 300% rise in teleconsultations through our various initiatives. This is going to grow further as people have started accepting digital health as the next frontier in medicine. In the future, we expect only patients who require interventions to make a visit to the hospital. Regular consultations will move to the virtual space, making it easier for all the stakeholders in the healthcare ecosystem.”

It’s no secret that technology comes at a cost. And with wearables and smartphones growing in popularity, healthcare monitoring becomes much easier. On this topic, Vikram added, “Technology is a one-time cost, which makes it more cost-effective over a period of time. Choosing the teleconsultation route for single-patient OPD visits will cut down on travel expenses. As for recurring conditions, telehealth will help cut down on the frequency of hospital visits since every problem does not necessitate a trip to the hospital. In the long run, it will help reduce the frequency of hospital admissions and re-admissions and bring down medical expenses.”

Healthcare at HOME, an aptly named company, is pioneering personalized and professional home health care in India. Their service provides on-the-fly hospital-grade home setups which include both the human element, i.e, doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, nutritionists, attendants, etc, and the technological one including oxygen cylinders, a bed and air mattress, monitors and so on. Modern technological prowess also allows for X-rays and ECGs to be done from home.

“Truth be told, only a few things apart from surgeries need hospitals in 2020”, says Mohammed Adil Hussain, Unit Head, Healthcare at HOME.

Talking about the current case trends and expectations, he added, “There was a huge increase in our single-visit services like chemotherapy from home. I think whoever has taken our healthcare at home service during the COVID-19 times will continue to choose home treatment because they’ve seen the associated comfort and cost savings first hand.”

In addition to moving setups home, teleconsultation will also be a cornerstone of healthcare. Why? Well, teleconsultation has a few inherent advantages. Slotted appointment schedules permit individual patients to spend quality time with their doctors in a comfortable setting, away from a queue of other patients. And as someone who once diagnosed 60-80 patients every two hours, Harshit Jain, Founder & CEO, Doceree, adds “With the new GoI health initiative, I expect teleconsultation to become more popular. Soon every doctor will have a digital signature and the capability to write e-prescriptions. This would go a long way in decongesting our healthcare delivery systems and improving our healthcare system.”

The overnight shift into hyper digitalization has also opened the gateway to new ventures and microsystems within the healthcare space. One of the key issues plaguing the pharmaceutical world is credible, product information available at a convenient time for the doctors/medical professionals. That’s where Doceree comes in.

When asked about the venture, Harshit said “What Doceree offers is democratization within the seller ecosystem. Our service helps facilitate better business by creating a better structure within the supply-demand chain for health products and drugs. What was conventionally done by a sales rep, now requires zero feet on-ground.” Being part of an online world also offers multiple benefits, the biggest of which is international reach. Today, anyone can reach out to all doctors in the country, but with Doceree, the same reach can be accomplished from a single platform.

Doctors are humans too, and they too have a digital footprint. As a result, pharma and drug makers can reach individual doctors by their respective specialization. A robust digital network of doctors and pharma companies means better communications and access, reduction in fraudulent data and unethical sales practices, and overall ease for all stakeholders in the ecosystem.

That’s just one example of a new space being created by the push towards adopting digital technologies. No one is batting for robots over humans, but this does not mean humans should be forced to do laborious or precise tasks. However, it’s not all about technology. Other stakeholders in the market need to innovate on their processes too.

Vikram adds, “A shift is a definite possibility. The move towards a contactless future has been a long time coming. Hospitals might end up becoming exclusively interventional spaces. The current tech platforms can support the shift of pre-hospital OPDs to the virtual space entirely, and re-hospitalization and post-hospitalization will move into the home ecosystem.”

Adil says, “Right now the entire ecosystem works in a way that insurance can only be availed only at select hospitals. But coronavirus has changed things. Because of COVID-19, the IRDAI (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India) allowed coronavirus patients to claim any home treatment costs. As a result, insurers have seen a lot of value in-home healthcare as lower bills mean significant savings for insurance companies as well.”

Ensuring all players are equipped for the post-pandemic era is a necessity for businesses to continue. What’s necessary to know is that we’re still not in the “new normal”. The new normal will take some time to get to. But there are certain truths to “being human”. One of them is “we cannot go back to old technology”, and this might prove key in determining the future. The ‘new normal’, when it does get here, will provide plenty of new and exciting opportunities. “Earlier brands never had a relationship with the customer. Previously, only sales reps had relationships with doctors. Now, brands will be built for the first time – this has never happened before,” concludes Harshit.

A balanced diet consisting of a variety of healthful foods will boost your overall health and well-being. Here we list some of the best and worst foods you can eat for your heart health.

New Delhi: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death worldwide for both men and women. As per the World Health Organization (WHO), CVDs claim an estimated 17.9 million lives each year – which about 31 per cent of all deaths. Cardiovascular diseases are a group of disorders of the heart and blood vessels, including coronary heart disease and other conditions. Most heart disease can be prevented with lifestyle choices such as eating a healthy diet, staying physically active, not smoking, limiting alcohol intake and stress, maintaining a healthy weight, etc. World Heart Day, celebrated on September 29 every year, encourages people to live a heart-healthy lifestyle.

Diet and your heart

Diet and exercise play a key role in maintaining the health of the cardiovascular system. While exercise improves circulation and keeps you fit, a good diet helps keep the arteries unclogged and protect them from damage. In fact, the importance of good nutrition on your heart health can’t be overlooked. A balanced diet consisting of a variety of healthful foods will boost your overall health and well-being. However, there are certain foods that can significantly promote your heart health, while others can harm it.

And, if you’re concerned about your heart, you’ll want to know the difference and adopt a heart-healthy diet. Dr Ashwin Madhukar, senior cardiologist at Apollo TeleHealth, shares a few of the best and worst foods for your heart:

Best and worst foods for your heart

Here’s what you should and shouldn’t be eating to maintain a healthy heart:

Say ‘Yes’ to

1. Fatty fish: Fatty fish like salmon, tuna, trout, and mackerel contain omega-3 fatty acids that can help ward off inflammation. While you can also get omega-3 fats from plant-based sources like flax seeds, your body will have to convert them from alpha-linolenic acid.
2. Rainbow diet: Include fruits and vegetables from all the colours of the spectrum in your diet. Phytochemicals, which are vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that prevent free radical damage to the arteries, impart colour to food. Each colour contributes to a different nutrient. The aim is to keep meals as colourful as possible.
3. Mixed nuts: Nuts are dense in nutrients and rich in fibre, protein and polyunsaturated fats. They promote satiety and make it easier for you to avoid processed snacks or junk food, both of which are high in unhealthy refined carbohydrates.
4. Extra virgin olive oil: It is rich in monosaturated fats which help lower the level of LDL or ‘bad’ cholesterol. It is also rich in antioxidants, which help prevent free radical damage to the cells, keeping your arteries free from fatty deposits and plaques.
5. Barley: This is a good source of soluble fibre, which binds to cholesterol and prevents fat buildup. It also reduces the production of cholesterol in the liver, which also helps to keep the lipid levels in control. Beans are a good non-grain source of soluble fibre.

Say ‘No’ to

1. Fried foods: Fried foods are linked to increased heart disease risk. Conventional methods of frying create trans fats that raise the level of bad cholesterol and lower the level of good cholesterol.
2. Soft drinks: For most people, the largest source of added sugar in their diets is not food but beverages. It contributes to inflammation, diabetes, high cholesterol, and obesity, all of which are risk factors for heart disease.
3. Processed meats: Processed meats contain a lot of saturated fat, and even the low fat options tend to have contain a lot of salt. Excess sodium pushed up your blood pressure, putting your heart at risk.
4. Fast food: Fast food is associated with saturated fat and a high level of carbohydrates, which have an adverse effect on heart health. They are also associated with unhealthy weight gain and unsuccessful weight loss maintenance. Moreover, a lot of fast foods contain processed meats that elevate their sodium content.
5. Biscuits and pastries: Most of the commercially produced baked goods are not only full of sugar but are also made with saturated fats like palm oil and butter, or trans fats like hydrogenated vegetable oil. Both ingredients make up for an extremely unhealthy nutritional profile that should be avoided at all costs.

Remember, no matter how heart-friendly your diet is, it won’t do you any good if you don’t get regular physical activity. Make it a point to get at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity every week.

• Economic Times: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/healthcare/biotech/healthcare/stress-self-injuries-and-suicide-india-battles-mental-health-crisis-as-covid-tally-spikes/articleshow/78087743.cms?from=mdr
• Business Standard: https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/stress-self-injuries-and-suicide-india-battles-mental-health-crisis-as-covid-tally-spikes-120091300331_1.html
• Times of India: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/stress-self-injuries-and-suicide-india-battles-mental-health-crisis-as-covid-tally-spikes/articleshow/78087699.cms
• Business Today: https://www.businesstoday.in/latest/trends/india-battles-mental-health-crisis-as-covid-pandemic-rages/story/415911.html
• Outlook India: https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/india-news-amid-soaring-covid-cases-india-battles-mental-health-crisis-post-lockdown/360252/
• Indian Express: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/coronavirus-india-updates-sept-13-maharashtra-delhi-telangana-6594138/
• Deccan Herald: https://www.deccanherald.com/national/stress-self-injuries-and-suicide-india-battles-mental-health-crisis-as-covid-19-tally-spikes-886868.html

To know more click here: https://www.forbesindia.com/article/healthcare-special/can-the-explosive-growth-in-telemedicine-sustain/62307/1