Praja Arogya Vedika Urges Substantial Budgetary Hike
The forum opposed excessive reliance on PPP models in health and tourism, urging greater focus on strengthening public healthcare.
Vijayawada:With the Andhra Pradesh Budget scheduled for presentation on February 14, the Praja Arogya Vedika (Public Health Forum) has mounted strong pressure on the government to substantially enhance allocations to the health sector, calling the present funding “alarmingly inadequate.”
Dr. K.V. Sai Prasad, honorary president of Praja Arogya Vedika; Dr. M.V. Ramanaiah, state president of PAV; T. Kameswara Rao, state general secretary of PAV; and G. Vijay Prakash, NTR district general secretary of PAV, addressed a press meet in Vijayawada on Friday.
In the 2025–26 Budget, the state allocated ₹19,264 crore to health—just 1.05 percent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). The forum said this underfunding has severely impacted primary healthcare services, particularly in rural and tribal belts. At the same time, persistent malnutrition (34 percent) and anemia (59 percent) among women and children continue to pose a major public health challenge.
Highlighting the burden on households, the forum noted that patients spend between 48 and 63 paise out of every rupee on treatment out of their own pockets, leading to preventable suffering and indebtedness.
It has demanded that at least 2.5 per cent of GSDP- ₹ 45,866 crore — be allocated to health in 2026–27, which means an additional ₹ 26,602 crore over the existing outlay. The forum also sought a ₹1,000- ₹2,000 crore special package for tribal areas to improve infrastructure and transport facilities.
Among other key demands are: filling vacancies of doctors and medical personnel; strengthening public distribution system (PDS) supplies with fortified foods, millets and pulses; upgrading Visakhapatnam’s RCD Hospital into a super-specialty paediatric centre on par with Niloufer Hospital; reinforcing AIMS Mangalagiri; developing Kakani Cancer Centre on the lines of MNJ Cancer Institute in Hyderabad; and transforming VIMS into a full-fledged postgraduate and research centre.
The forum opposed excessive reliance on PPP models in health and tourism, urging greater focus on strengthening public healthcare.
A memorandum was submitted to the health minister, Satya Kumar Yadav, on February 11. The forum appealed to both ruling and opposition MLAs to raise these demands forcefully during the budget discussions.
