Union budget has nothing significant for health sector: Dr K M Cherian

CHENNAI: The Union Budget has no significant announcements for the healthcare sector, says Dr. K. M. Cherian, CEO and chairman of Frontier Lifeline Hospital.

“While the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has addressed the concerns of various sectors, it is unfortunate that there were no significant announcements for the healthcare sector. With the acute shortage of doctors, nurses and paramedics and lab technicians in the country, it is disheartening to see that there was no conversation or even a provision in the budget to address this,” he said reacting to the budget presented on Friday.

Further, Dr. Cherian said there is also a dire need for R&D in basic medical sciences and other areas, so that indigenous technology will grow. In addition it will help to reduce the out flow of foreign exchange, which has not happened. “But there is still hope with National Research Foundation being set up to strengthen overall research ecosystem in the country,” he said.

The Ayushman Bharat scheme was implemented on September 25, 2018 with an investment of Rs 2,400 crore in 2018-19, which was increased to Rs 6,400 crore in 2019-20. “It would be great to see the scheme being implemented flawlessly and also covering a wider audience.” Dr. Cherian said.