Budget 2023: What healthcare sector and hospitals expect from FM Sitharaman

Ahead of the Budget 2023 industry experts from the healthcare sector empahsised on the need for equal attention to paediatric health in rural areas so that children can lead a healthy life The experts also stressed on the need for fund allocations and enhancement of infrastructureMinnie Bodhanwala CEO of Wadia Hospital said To address the issues of higher neonatal and early neonatal mortality newborn care services at health facilities are of prime importance It is essential to come up with facilities for the care of sick newborns such as Special New Born Care Units SNCUs New Born Stabilization Units NBSUs and New Born Baby Corners NBCCs at different levels Its important to take some effective initiatives to improve paediatric care in rural India Factors like healthcare facilities unhygienic conditions and unavailability of proper diet can impact the childrsquos overall wellbeingAdding further she said Cardiac ailments congenital defects and airborne diseases such as tuberculosis whooping cough pneumonia and measles tend to take a toll on onersquos respiratory tract and lead to higher mortality and morbidity rates in children Malnutrition among rural children is also a matter of concern There is no awareness in rural India regarding of predominance of pregnancy and childbirth illnesses and deaths This budget should pay equal attention to paediatric health in rural areas so that children can lead a healthy lifeMeanwhile Dr Namrata Jaitli Director ndash Policy and Programme Impact Bal Raksha Bharat Save The Children empahsised on the need for enhanced allocation and public expenditure for childrenAlso Read Budget 2023 Gold industry wants FM Sitharaman to reduce import duty bring more transparency to sectorUnion budget 202324 provides us an opportunity to increase public investment on children so as to further Indiarsquos aspirations in Amrit Kaal as it moves towards its 100th year post independence Regular assessment and augmentation of public expenditure on children will enable children 4037 of Indiarsquos population to contribute to Indiarsquos growth Investing in children will contribute significantly towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals SDGs for India which includes ending hunger improving nutrition ensuring healthy lives ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education reducing inequality and combating the impact of climate change and its implications on children she addedWhile sharing expectations from Budget 2023 Dr Jaitli said Include information on actual expenditure on childfocused programmes and schemes in the Child Budget Statement of the Union government with greater details provided about the relevant child focused institution programme and scheme A comprehensive analysis of budgetary provisions for children should be undertaken which should include total allocation and expenditure by Central and State Governments as well at Panchayats and ULBsShe also urged Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to increase public funding on health to 2537 of GDP so as to improve the share of Child Health budget in total Union Budget Extension of lsquoJanani Shishu Suraksha Karyakaramrsquo JSSK entitlement till five years of age and ensuring diet and stay benefits for accompanying motherscaregivers in order to ensure better survival opportunities for children up to five years of age and reduce outofpocket expenses of families Dr Jaitli saidDr Vivek Talaulikar Chief Executive Officer Global Hospital Mumbai urged Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to enhance healthcare infrastructure and healthcare resources to reduce the incidences of lifestyle diseasesThe government is already working to manage the burden of communicable diseases and we can see the result with a decline in the graph Now the focus should be on lifestyle disease Heart disease obesity type 2 diabetes stroke and hypertension are some of the lifestyle diseases that are commonly seen in both young and older populations owing to increasing urbanization Healthy India will progress our nation and for that we need the young generation to be active Lifestyle diseases should be more focused on All the parameters work differently hence all are important to give focus starting from medical devices to even medicine he saidNew medical devices of the developed versions are to be used same for medicines also Take measures such as conducting drives and initiatives to reduce mortality and morbidity rates owing to lifestyle diseases Early cancer detection and prompt treatment should be encouraged in people We need appropriate infrastructure and healthcare resources to reduce the incidences of lifestyle diseases In view of rising cases of breast ovarian lung oral and cervical cancer the government should take some vital measures to improve the quality of life of the patient Dr Talaulikar signed off