PM’s address at a webinar on positive impact of Union Budget 2022 in Health sector

Namaskar Ji! My cabinet colleagues; all the professionals associated with the healthcare sector both in the public and private sector across the country as well as all the dignitaries associated with paramedics, nursing, health management, technology and research; ladies and gentlemen First of all, I congratulate you all on behalf of 130 crore countrymen for successfully running the world’s largest vaccination mission! You have shown the whole world how efficient India’s healthcare system is, how mission-oriented it is! Friends, This budget has been expanding our efforts to reform and transform the healthcare system for the past 7 years and the experts of budget must have realized that from day one, there is a continuity and progressive unfoldment in both our budget and policies. We have adopted a holistic approach in our healthcare system. Today our focus is not only on health but equally on wellness. We are focused on eliminating the factors responsible for illness, encouraging the society for wellness and making treatment of diseases inclusive. Therefore, we need to spread all the initiatives like Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Fit India Mission, POSHAN Mission, Mission Indradhanush, Ayushman Bharat and Jal Jeevan Mission to as many people as possible. Friends, When we talk about holistic and inclusiveness in the health sector, we are including three factors in it. Firstly, expansion of infrastructure and human resources related to modern medical science. Secondly, promotion of research in traditional Indian system of medicine like AYUSH and its active engagement in the healthcare system and thirdly providing better and affordable healthcare facilities to every person and every part of the country through modern and futuristic technology. For this, we have substantially increased the budget for the healthcare sector. Friends, We want to create such a health infrastructure in India which is not limited to only big cities. You must have seen that I am constantly talking about this subject in front of the world, especially after Corona. I have been talking about ‘One Earth One Health’. With the same spirit, we must develop ‘One India One Health’ in India too. This mission is also similar i.e. the same healthcare facilities should be developed in remote areas too. We must strive to ensure that critical healthcare facilities are present at the block level, the district level as well as in the villages. It is very important to maintain this infrastructure and upgrade it from time to time. For this, the private sector and other sectors will also have to come forward with a lot of zest. Friends, Besides framing a good policy, its implementation is equally important. Therefore, it is essential that more attention is given to the people or institutes that implement the policies. So, in this budget, we have made a provision to further empower 2 lakh Anganwadis by upgrading them to ‘Saksham Anganwadis’. The same applies to POSHAN-2.0. Friends, To strengthen the primary healthcare network, 1.5 lakh health and wellness centres are also being set up at a rapid pace. So far, more than 85,000 centres are providing the facilities of routine check-up, vaccination and tests. In this budget, the facility of mental healthcare has also been added to the list. Concerted efforts are needed so that we can take these facilities to maximum number of people and to raise awareness in people. You too must expand your efforts towards the same. Friends, Better health infrastructure is not merely a facility. It also raises the demand for the healthcare services, which is a great way to generate more employment. As the demand for healthcare services is rising over the years, we are also trying to produce skilled health professionals accordingly. That is why, there has been a major increase in the budget for health education and human resource development related to healthcare as compared to last year. You are all well aware of our commitment to reforms related to medical education and the creation of medical colleges. How to take these reforms forward using technology, how to further improve the quality of medical education, how to make it more inclusive and affordable? These are some of the concrete steps to be taken by you within a stipulated time frame. Friends, Our objectives related to healthcare cannot be achieved without self-reliance in research, medicines and medical equipment related to biotechnology. We have realized this during the Corona period. We have to tap the growth potential in the field of generics, bulk drugs, vaccines and biosimilars. That’s why we have started PLI schemes for medical equipment and raw material for medicines. Friends, The whole world has recognized the strength of our digital technology through a platform like Cowin during Corona Vaccination. Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission provides a simple interface between consumer and healthcare provider. With this, both receiving and providing treatment in the country will become very easy. Moreover, it will also facilitate global access to India’s quality and affordable healthcare system. This will increase both the medical tourism and income opportunities for the countrymen. In this year’s budget, we have talked about an open platform named Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission to empower this mission. We need to seriously discuss the scope and impact of such new initiatives. Friends, During the Corona period, remote healthcare, telemedicine, tele-consultation was the solution for about 2.5 crore patients. This technology can be very useful in reducing the health access divide between urban and rural India. Now we are providing fiber networks to every village in the country. 5G technology will also be rolled out very soon. Our private sector must increase its participation to roll out remote healthcare using 5G technology. We have so many dispensaries and AYUSH centers in our villages. How can we connect them with the big private and public hospitals in cities? How can we promote remote healthcare and tele-consultation? We will look forward to your suggestions in these areas as well. Our private companies associated with the health sector will also have to come forward to expand the use of drone technology in healthcare. Friends, Today the entire world has accepted the role of Ayush very well. It is a matter of pride for us that WHO is going to set up its only Global Center of Traditional Medicine in India. Now it is up to all of us how to create better solutions through AYUSH for ourselves and also for the world. This period of Corona is also a chance to acquaint the world with the potential of India in terms of healthcare and pharma. Therefore, if the necessary action plan emerges with the timeline from this webinar, it will be a great service. And I would like to say one more thing, especially to my friends from the private sector. Today, our children are going to small countries of the world to study, especially for medical education. They are going despite language related problems. Billions of rupees are going out of the country. Can’t our private sector come into this field in large numbers? Can’t our state governments make good policies so as to allocate land for this type of work so that the maximum number of doctors and paramedics are produced here itself? Moreover, we can meet the demand of the world. Our doctors have brought a lot of glory to India in the last four-five decades. Wherever an Indian doctor goes, he wins the heart of that country. The talent of the Indian doctors is praised by the people around the world. This means our branding is done. Now we have to expedite the process of getting the qualified people ready. Similarly, our health insurance scheme is the world’s largest. I do not call it a health insurance scheme; it is Ayushman Bharat; and it is a sort of assured Income. The insurance scheme is with the Government of India. So if a poor person comes to your hospital, the payment is going to be made by the Government of India. The situation of patients avoiding big hospitals because of lack of money is no longer there. Will my friends from the private sector come forward to develop infrastructure in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities? Kindly develop special facilities for the patients covered by Ayushman Bharat scheme. You will not have any income related problems. Your investment will get assured returns. There are so many schemes and Public Private Partnership in these projects can make the health sector very strong for our country and you must have seen that our Ayurveda has gained a huge reputation. Especially in the period of Corona, the export of the herbal products today has increased a lot in the world, that is, the attraction towards it has increased manifold. How can we all take these action-plans forward? I would like you to come with an open mind to help prepare India to take the leadership role. Just the budget figures are not going to make any difference. And why did we pre-pone the budget by a month? It is done so that we have the facility to prepare plans for all the provisions of the budget in the month of February and March and we are able to implement our new budget from April 1. And we can move towards the maximum outcome in less time. I request all of you to make this discussion extremely lively today and I am not in favour of delivering a lengthy speech on behalf of the government. Rather I want to hear from you – Concrete plans. Sometimes certain things are left out for implementation, and for that the files keep moving for months together. This discussion will minimise such lacunae. Your guidance will help us to implement things more easily. Our officers and the systems too will receive good guidance to implement things. Now that this crisis of the world has made health consequences really serious today, we need to pay more close attention. I wish you all the very best! Thank you!