Budget 2023-24: Health allocation up 13%; eradicating sickle cell anemia a priority

The 2023-24 Union Budget allocated Rs 89,155 crore to the health sector, a 13% increase from the previous year’s allocation of Rs 79,145 crore. The government also announced a mission to eradicate sickle cell anemia by 2047.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget for 2023-24 on Wednesday and said 157 new nursing colleges will be established in co-location with the existing 157 medical colleges established since 2014.

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“A mission to eliminate sickle cell anaemia by 2047 will be launched. It will entail awareness creation, universal screening of 7 crore people in the age group of 0-40 years in affected tribal areas, and counselling through collaborative efforts of central ministries and state governments,” she said.

The finance minister said facilities in select Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) laboratories will be made available for research by public and private medical college faculty members and private sector research and development teams for encouraging collaborative research and innovation.

The budget allocation for the AYUSH ministry has been increased from Rs 2,845.75 crore to Rs 3,647.50 crore, recording a 28 per cent increase.

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Out of Rs 89,155 crore, Rs 86,175 crore has been allocated to the Department of Health and Family Welfare, while Rs 2,980 crore to the Department of Health Research.  From the new financial year, the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) has been bifurcated into two sub schemes, the first being the PMSSY itself and the second one is the establishment expenditure of 22 new AIIMS for which Rs 6,835 crore has been allocated.

The budget allocation for the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana for 2023-2024 is Rs 3,365 crore.

Among these central sector schemes, the budget allocation for the National Health Mission has been increased from Rs 28,974.29 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 29,085.26 crore in 2023-24, and for Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (PM-JAY), it has been hiked from Rs 6,412 crore to Rs 7,200 crore.

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The allocation for the National Digital Health Mission NHM has been increased from Rs 140 crore to Rs 341.02 crore.

For the National Tele Mental Health Programme, the budget allocation has been increased from Rs 121 crore to Rs 133.73 crore.

The budget allocation for autonomous bodies goes up from Rs 10,348.17 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 17,322.55 crore in 2023-24. Among the autonomous bodies, the allocation for AIIMS, New Delhi has been reduced from Rs 4,400.24 crore to Rs 4,134.67 crore.

The allocation for ICMR has been increased from Rs 2,116.73 crore to Rs 2,359.58 crore.

(With agency inputs)