Allocate 3% of funds for healthcare: Praja Arogya Vedika

Nellore: Praja Arogya Vedika demanded the Union government to allocate 3 percent of GDP for healthcare in the ensuing budget and enhancement of allocation to 5 percent in the next two years too. Vedika state president Dr M V Ramanaiah sent a representation to the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in this regard on Sunday. In the recent days, he mentioned that every household was forced to spend more amount on health problems and it is high time the government took necessary steps to support citizens and provide medical assistance to them.

Most people are either middle-class or below the poverty line and their earnings were insufficient even to meet essentials like food, clothing, accommodation, he pointed out. He stated that spending on health was beyond their reach and at present, the expenditure of government on healthcare was limited to 0.34 percent of GDP and lamented that the nation was placed at 145th position out of 180 countries in providing quality healthcare.

The government must act people-friendly and take steps to increase the health standards by increasing budget allocations for healthcare to the extent of 3 percent of GDP which can relieve maximum pressure on people. He also suggested to strengthen the primary healthcare and secondary healthcare centers by developing infrastructure and appointing full-fledged staff including doctors. He reiterated the government should set up AIIMS like centres throughout the nation to facilitate super specialty services even to common people.

Government has to promote R&D institutions like CCMB, ICMR, CSIR and establish them throughout the country by attaching these institutions with PG teaching hospitals and they must work industry-friendly to invent more useful and affordable medical facilities to the citizens.

In the Covid backdrop, the government must rethink and bring back defunct institutions/industries like IDPL, HAL, RICTL, BPL into functioning to produce affordable medicines for the common citizens.