The Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA), a national-level people’s health movement, has expressed deep concern and disappointment about reports that the Union government is planning to slash the health budget for 2014-15.
In a statement here on Friday, B. Ekbal, one of the national conveners of the Abhiyan, said reports about the proposed cut had come on the heels of reported across-the-board cuts in social sector-spending by the present government. “Cuts in the health budget are an assault on the poor and working people of the country. The proposed cuts belie expectations that the government would give priority to health, in contrast to the stance of the previous UPA government, given its commitment to a National Health Assurance Mission,” Dr. Ekbal said.
The most basic requirement for any form of ‘health assurance’ was an increase in the allocation for health to at least 3 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the short term and 5 per cent of the GDP in the medium and long term (from the abysmally low 1.2 per cent at present). Dr. Ekbal said the government’s proposal was to cut the spending in the health sector by 20 per cent citing budget constraints and high fiscal deficit.