Although expectations were high on the allocation for health this poll-bound year, the overall funding for the sector has remained the same as last year — at 5% (₹15,151 crore) of the total Budget.
Most of the Budget proposals in the health sector are either continuation of old schemes announced last year or completion of unfinished projects. Most of the proposals clearly mention that remaining work of projects announced in the 2022-23 Budget will be completed this year.
Mane Manege Arogya
Repackaging last year’s yet to be started ‘Mukhya Mantri Arogya Vahini’ scheme, the Chief Minister announced ‘Mane Manege Arogya’ scheme, under which health camps will be organised twice in a year in villages.
The mobile clinics announced last year remain a non-starter. Cancer screening for early detection, which is also an ongoing programme, has been mentioned under a new name called ‘Jeevasudhe’.
To avoid delay in providing diagnosis and treatment to heart-attack patients in rural areas, the Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences had chalked out a heart-attack (ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction -STEMI) management project at the taluk level. Planned to be taken up under the National Health Mission (NHM), this proposal too was kept in abeyance for over two years. It has been included in the Budget this time and 45 taluka hospitals are proposed to be connected to Jayadeva.
Critical care
The Budget has proposed to start 50-bed critical care blocks in Kolar, Bagalkot, Yadgir, Gadag, Chikkamagaluru, Ramanagaram, Vijayanagara, and Doddaballapur, 100-bed critical care blocks in Tumakuru and Bengaluru, 10 mother and child hospitals at a cost of ₹165 crore, and IVF clinics in four Institutes of Medical Sciences of Bengaluru, Hubballi, Mysuru, and Kalaburagi at a cost of ₹6 crore.
C.N. Manjunath, Director of Jayadeva Institute, said the need of the hour is to reinforce and strengthen the existing facilities with adequate manpower to improve their functionality. “Critical care management at taluk and district levels should be strengthened,” he said.
The Karnataka Brain Health Initiative, which is currently ongoing in three districts, has been proposed to be extended to the entire State at a cost of ₹25 crore in collaboration with NIMHANS.
The Budget has also proposed to start a hospital dedicated for organ transplant on the premises of NIMHANS at a cost of ₹146 crore, 129 taluk laboratories, 31 district laboratories, and State referral laboratory in Bengaluru and a centralized blood bank management system at a cost of ₹.5 crore in Bengaluru Medical College and Research Institution.
Handheld x-ray
The budget has set aside ₹12.5 crore for conducting community-based testing and treatment of Tuberculosis patients with the help of hand-held X-Ray machines in all districts. For screening of children in the 1-6 years group, the Budget has proposed to start ‘Vatsalya’ scheme. A similar scheme named ‘Arogya Nandana’ is already in place for all school-going children.
“It’s a progressive budget overall. I liked the focus on preventive healthcare and cancer detection camps. Digitisation of health records is also actioned. Establishing the country’s first dedicated hospital for organ transplantation clearly highlights the government’s commitment to provide affordable healthcare to the citizens,’‘ said Ranjan Pai, Chairman of the Manipal Education and Medical Group.
