IMA gives thumbs down to health sector budgetary allocation

The Indian Medical Association Saturday termed the budgetary allocation in the health sector "inadequate" as the body lamented that public spending on health remained at 1.2 per cent of GDP.

In a statement, the doctors body said health remains a blind spot in the country.

"Health remains the only subject which the Union finance minister has preferred to downplay. There is no clarity of enhancement of investment in Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (AB-PMJAY) either," it said.

"The atmosphere of violence in our hospitals is directly due to inadequacy of infrastructure and human resources in public sector and out of pocket expenditure in private sector," the statement said.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday announced Rs 62,659.12 crore outlay for the health sector in the 2019-2020 fiscal. The health outlay this fiscal saw an increase of around 15.38 per cent over the revised estimates of 2018-2019 fiscal when it was Rs 54,302.50 crore.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA), however, said the
The medical body said allocation of Rs 2,000 crore for converting district hospitals into medical colleges, and
On the government's ambitious Ayushman Bharat scheme, the IMA said, "Had the government extended the insurance coverage under Ayushman Bharat to primary care, thousands of clinics and small hospitals situated in rural and semi-urban area would have participated. This would have made both the Ayushman Bharat and small hospitals viable and sustainable."
R V Asokan, IMA general secretary, said, "The IMA is concerned that small and medium hospitals will be decimated with the current design of health care. IMA demands a review of the concept and operational aspects of Ayushman Bharat while demanding more allocation for health."