Health research budget insufficient to meet existing, future challenges: Parliamentary panel

New Delhi | The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare in its report has said that the increase in the health research budget year on year is very meagre and is not commensurate with the tasks DHR-ICMR are entrusted to deal with. The allocated budget is grossly insufficient to meet the existing and future healthcare challenges, said the Committee.

“The Committee feels that higher budgetary allocation for health research will result in more research based findings which in turn would help in devising more informed affordable and practical plans, methodologies for diagnosis and treatment of both communicable and non-communicable diseases. Higher allocation for health research would also make the country better prepared for tackling any future outbreaks and health exigencies” said the committee in its report which was tabled in Parliament on Thursday.

The Committee has also recommended considering global standards with respect to investment in health research adding that the Government must invest at least 0.1 per cent of the GDP in the next five years.

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Taking note that no allocation has been done for Covid-19 to ICMR in 2022-23 and also no expenditure has been incurred under the scheme PM-ABHIM for which Rs 140 crores were allocated in RE 2021-22, the Committee said that the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM) which was launched in October last year has not yet seen the light of the day. The Committee feels that the PM-ABHIM is to be implemented from 2021-22 to 2025-26 i.e. for 5 years, thus non-utilisation of funds allocated for the very first year casts serious doubts over the scheme achieving its intended targets.

The Standing Committee has also expressed concern that many states are not performing well on several health parameters and lack the adequate absorption capacity to judiciously manage the allocated funds. The Committee has recommended to the government to incentivise the States and UTs to make ground assessment of the efficacy of the health policies and help the states design policies suiting the needs of the respective region.

The Committee has also recommended DHR-ICMR to establish and manage Rapid Response Teams (RRT) consisting of epidemiologists, immunologists, virologists, experts in infectious diseases, physicians and other scientific and clinical staff to counter any emergency situation developing due to disease outbreaks.

IANS

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