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New Delhi: As India completed two years into the COVID pandemic, healthcare was amongst the most important segments demanding an increase in expenditure and digitalization to improve access in the Union Budget 2022-23. While the positive impact of the introduced changes will only be visible in the coming fiscal year, health experts were of the view that the budget justified the demands of the health segment and will give a major push to its further growth.
Speaking on fuel provided through the budget towards digitalization, Dr Prathap C. Reddy, Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group said, “The budget keeps us on track on enabling universal health accessibility with the proposed National Digital Health Ecosystem. With digital registries of health providers and health facilities, unique health identifiers for each individual, this will help in providing universal access to health facilities. Along with the national tele-mental health program, this shows the enhanced focus on health. We look forward to contributing to the success of these path-breaking initiatives along with the rest of the private sector healthcare.”
Further adding on the tax benefits granted to startups, Reddy said, “During the pandemic, we saw an immense contribution of start-ups to innovation in healthcare and the extension of the tax benefits for another year should encourage more start-ups in the healthtech space to come up and invest in R&D especially in the field of AI powered smart wearables and predictive healthcare. This will in turn be invaluable in strengthening our fight against non-communicable diseases, which can otherwise derail the economic recovery by impacting our productive demographic.”
Highlighting the further expectations of the pharmaceutical sector, V Ashok, Group CFO, ACG said, “The Union Budget for 2022-23 presented today will continue to accelerate economic growth through higher capital investment and lower inflation. Tax rates remaining unchanged despite likely challenges in fiscal targets is a very positive move to drive consumption and money in the hands of consumers. The January GST collection is an indicator of buoyancy in economic growth. With respect to the Pharma sector, we were expecting higher budget allocation due to the aftereffects of the pandemic. India being the Pharma capital of the world looks forward to greater support apart from PLI incentives announced.”
Appreciating the reforms introduced in the budget this year, Dr. GSK Velu, Chairman & Managing Director, Trivitron Healthcare and Neuberg Diagnostics said that the budget adopted a balanced approach which will improve the overall growth and place it at a much stronger position.
Giving further inputs on the budget, Velu said, “Though there was not much for the medical devices industry directly in the Budget, the industry will benefit from the Government’s increased focus on healthcare. The National healthcare mission outlay has been kept at ~37,000 crores like previous year and this is a bit disappointing, considering the fact our healthcare infrastructure needs a big boost in the coming years. The demand from all healthcare experts was to increase healthcare outlay in the current budget.”
Reacting to the focus driven towards mental health, R&D and digital healthcare, Dr Shankar Narang, COO, Paras Healthcare said, “This Budget seems to have balanced out infrastructure and healthcare well. The National Digital Health Ecosystem will consist of digital registries of health providers and health facilities, unique health identity and universal access to health facilities. The budget has correctly highlighted the imperative for greater emphasis on innovation, research, and development, which are crucial to helping India reach the aspirational goal of becoming a $5 trillion economy. The pandemic has accentuated mental health problems in people of all ages. To better the access to quality mental health counseling and care services, a National Tele Mental Health program has also been launched. We are delighted that the government has recognised and considered strengthening the healthcare system for betterment of individuals, healthcare workers and hospitals along with the required infrastructure. It’s a growth focussed budget which is the need of the hour.
Talking about the tele-mental health programme, upgradation of 2 lakh anganwadis and digital health ecosystem amongst other initiatives introduced for healthcare in the budget, Dr Ashutosh Raghuvanshi, MD & CEO, Fortis Healthcare Ltd said that the changes are encouraging and will help in improving access to healthcare.
Expanding further on the impact of the health initiatives introduced in the budget, Raghuvanshi added, “Digital health ecosystem is an area where we would have appreciated some more allocation, especially the National Digital Health ID initiative. Of course, as the programme is a long-term one, I am sure that funds will be made available in the future. That apart, the special status given to data centres is going to have an impact on the digitalization of the healthcare ecosystem, both from the insurers’ as well as the providers’ perspective. I think these are very positive outcomes from the health perspective. As the healthcare sector has been at the forefront of battling the COVID pandemic, it would have been great if certain allocations were enhanced.”
Speaking on the initiatives introduced in the budget, Daniel Mazon, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Philips Indian Subcontinent said,“We love the idea of an open platform for the National Digital Health Ecosystem as it will further create access to healthcare in tier-II and tier-III cities. This move also reaffirms the Government’s commitment to implement digital health solutions that improve patient lives. In line with the Atmanirbhar Bharat program, we also look forward to the government’s support in further ramping up local manufacturing to realize the country’s long-term goals in healthcare. Philips has continuously supported the Government’s Covid-19 efforts and now looks to partner with the Government on digital healthcare transformation.”
Many experts were appreciative of the health budget presented and hoped that the initiatives introduced in the budget will lead to further growth of the health sector. Higher budget allocation however, was the demand by many which remained unmet by the Budget given for the financial year 2022-23.