The medical fraternity has welcomed Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s health budget on Wednesday. The minister has announced a mission to eliminate sickle cell anaemia by 2047, opening of 157 nursing medical colleges and research and development on a public-private partnership basis among other measures. Healthcare service providers, however, added that there was a need for more fund allocation. Experts also said that there was a need to reduce import duty on medical equipment, but the Budget did not meet the expectation.

The Union Budget 2023-24 has allocated a whopping Rs 88,956 crore to health expenditure—a 2.71 per cent or Rs 2,350 crore hike as compared to the last year. Last year, the health ministry was given Rs 86,200.65 crore, a hike of 16 per cent from Rs 73,931.77 allotted in 2021-2022.