State budgets on healthcare to be increased to 8 % from current 4-4.5%, says Dr. VK Paul, Member, NITI Aayog

There is a need for building a National Network of Excellent Emergency and Trauma System which has an element of transfer ambulances part of intra-ambulance care

Dr. VK Paul, Member, NITI Aayog has said that PM JAY (Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana) has started to absorb other government schemes and expand its scope on the initiatives of the state governments. “The central government is also willing to increase its ambit. PM-JAY is here to stay, and it is the main vehicle for secondary and tertiary care and therefore we have to reposition ourselves to align with this,” he added.

Addressing the inaugural session of ‘FICCI HEAL 2021’, organized jointly with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, GoI, and NITI Aayog, Dr. Paul stated that the government will continue to refine PMJAY and all those who are not yet part of it should partner with it. “We must work to include the remaining hospitals into the PMJAY paradigm. We have to work on the high volume and modest return model in this,” he added.

Dr. Paul further stated that the area of critical medicine and extension in emergency medicine has to be leveraged by the nation. “On the public health side this is a weak area, and we need your (industry) help to strengthen the critical care of the nation. The PM Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana also talks about critical care infrastructure augmentation and it’s a spontaneous area where we can work together. There is a need for building a National Network of Excellent Emergency and Trauma System which has an element of transfer ambulances part of intra-ambulance care,” he noted.

Dr. Paul also shared that State governments are planning to increase their budgets on healthcare from the current 4-4.5 percent to almost 8 percent, which should help in getting the requisite focus on enhancing the healthcare status. He also urged the private sector to provide suggestions on the budget for next year as well as give ideas on how to utlilise and strengthen the AYUSH or traditional medicine sector of the country.

Speaking on the health infrastructure, Dr. Paul said that we must also look at the opportunity of converting more district hospitals into medical colleges to help augment our human resources. He also urged the private sector to increase focus on DNB education for enhancing the specialist doctors in the country. “A large volume of beds is not being used for education. Every bed has to be used and the pathway is the DNB program,” he added.

Dr Sangita Reddy, Immd. Past President, FICCI and Joint MD, Apollo Hospitals Group said that India put up a valiant battle against COVID-19 and took various policy-making decisions, ramping health infrastructure and creating a human-centric policy towards the approach, access, and vaccination. “The government recently announced the revision in the rates of Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana- the Health Benefit Package 2.2 and this will indeed encourage more private hospitals to join hands with the government. I urge the government to include outpatient packages under the PMJAY,” she added.

Dr. Alok Roy, Chair, FICCI Health Services Committee & Chairman, Medica Group of Hospitals said that healthcare is at the center stage like never before- whether it is through our increased public spending focus on healthcare infrastructure or the game-changing innovations and collaborations seen amongst all the stakeholders. “There is a need for augmenting and expanding these collaborations and advancements in innovations to a new level to help bring in the real transformation of our healthcare ecosystem,” he added.

Gautam Khanna, Co-Chair, FICCI Health Services Committee & CEO, PD Hinduja Hospitals & MRC delivered the vote of thanks and Dr. Arati Verma, Co-Chair, FICCI HEAL and Senior Vice President – Medical Quality, Max Healthcare moderated the session.