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Double health budget to ensure an Arogya Bharat by 2025

Steps should be taken to make India a healthcare destination of the world, says Dr Sujit Chatterjee

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Dr Sujit Chatterjee, CEO, Dr L H Hiranandani Hospital

3 min read Last Updated : Apr 15 2019 | 10:23 AM IST

In India, the healthcare sector is poised to be the sunrise sector in particular. The large share of the pie will be enjoyed by the private sector and not so much with the public sector. This is a malady which the Government must address. The state is responsible for primary healthcare and to a large extent even secondary level of healthcare but the tertiary and quaternary healthcare can be looked at by the private sector and together the healthcare sector can be enriched and Arogya Bharat can be a reality.

There is a huge opportunity that lies in improving our emergency services in the rural areas. We still are among the world leaders in maternal and perinatal mortality which are the basis which is the basic indicators of the quality of healthcare in any country in the world. The fact of the matter is that the primary health centres have not been looked after and basic emergencies like caesarean sections is less performed in Primary Health Centre(PHC) and more commonly at district level.

The delay in transporting the mother to such a centre results in enhanced maternal and infant mortality. The challenge to get professionals who would mean the centre that is the basic need in this healthcare set up. There are solutions that doctors who are in rural areas must start at a salary bracket which is higher than the recommendation of the Seventh Pay Commission. This would include the nursing staff as well as the nurse midwife who would then be dedicated to the centre they work in and the results would be evident in short point in time.

Prepaid healthcare is the way forward for a country like India. However our system is warped in which we are working backwards. Premiums for healthcare must be maximum at young ages and very minimum at the elderly ages. To get benefits of healthcare at senior ages must compulsorily be made after paying premium for 20 years after which the benefits can be reaped. This will only ensure that the senior citizens (as India will be the oldest nation by the year 2040) get medical treatment on little or at no cost as they have already fulfilled their criteria of paying the dues. This should start with immediate effect as it will give a fillip to the insurance and health industries.

Recommendation to the finance Minister

Budget should change the salaries of those in hinterland across the board along with free accommodation. The health and finance minister must ensure that these people who are at the hinterland gets other benefits like guaranteed PG or higher education after a period of 5 years which will contribute vastly to better outcomes in maternal and neonatal mortality.

There should be drastic reduction in import of sophisticated medical equipment. This would help India to be able to become a healthcare destination in the world as we have the best doctors along with a stable political environment which could only add to ensuring that we attract people from overseas with our professional skills. It is sad that in the last budget the Government actually reduced the healthcare spend. This trend has to be reversed and care taken up to ensure that the health budget is double if not tripled to ensure an Arogya Bharat by the year 2025.
Dr Sujit Chatterjee is the CEO of Dr L H Hiranandani Hospital