Jan Swashtya Abhiyan Calls Out Budget '23 for its Failure to Increase Allocations Towards Public Health System in India
Representational Image. Image Courtesy: The Week
Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA), India's national network of civil society organisations and people's movements working for health rights, has called out the Union budget 2022-23 for failing to learn the lessons from various waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. In its statement, JSA has condemned the inadequacies in the budget as the government failed to take concrete measures to improve the dilapidated health system of India.
In the budget presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, the allocation for the Union Health Ministry declined by 7% in real terms. Between 2021-22 RE and 2022-23 BE, the government allocation to health, as % of GDP, has declined from 0.382% to 0.346%. Moreover, the share of health in the total budget has decreased from 2.35% to 2.26% compared to the previous year.
The government has also cut COVID-related expenditure. The Rs 35,000 crore allocated towards COVID-19 vaccination has been drastically cut despite the country still reporting a high number of cases. The vaccination rates are still a matter of concern. Still, instead of boosting the public vaccination programme through a higher allocation of funds, "it seems that now the government's policy would be that the private sector hereafter will be the main source of COVID vaccines."
JSA has also highlighted the cuts in the allocations towards the National Health Mission (NHM), one of the most crucial flagship schemes that contribute towards improvements in the health of mothers and children. The budget made a real-term cut of Rs 4,106 crore. The current limited resources would mean that essential services provided under NHM in 2020-21 cannot be provided anymore.
Instead of boosting schemes such as NHM, the government has continued spending on wasteful and ineffective Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY). A significant portion of payments under PMJAY has gone to the private sector. In a similar manner, the government has increased allocations towards Ayushman Bharat Digital Health Mission from Rs 30 crore in the previous year to Rs 200 crore for 2022-23. "This amounts to placing undue emphasis on ‘Health cards’ while neglecting actual ‘Health care’." JSA alleges that "It is highly likely that this scheme is going to benefit the big IT companies and commercial health insurance companies while the safety and security of personal information remain doubtful."
"The Union Health budget 2022-23 falls flat because it has completely overlooked the lessons of the COVID-19 epidemic and fails to allocate much-needed increases in allocations for public health system strengthening, the major National Health Mission programme, COVID related provisions which remain a continuing requirement, protection and remuneration for health workers, services for women and children, Mental health programme, and essential Health research," the statement reads.
JSA further alleged that the Union government presented the data in an opaque manner to cover up its multifaceted failures so that it can't be compared to the previous years. The organisation has called upon the people "to oppose this betrayal and demand essential, much higher allocations for public health which are required during the COVID pandemic and beyond, to ensure adequate healthcare for all of us."
Get the latest reports & analysis with people's perspective on Protests, movements & deep analytical videos, discussions of the current affairs in your Telegram app. Subscribe to NewsClick's Telegram channel & get Real-Time updates on stories, as they get published on our website.