Prof. K. Srinath Reddy, former president of PHFI, criticized the “inadequate funding” for the National Health Mission (NHM).Despite modest increases in the health budget, the NHM received only a 1.16 percent increase, from Rs. 35,585 crore in 2023-24 to Rs. 36,000 crore in 2024-25. “The increase in funding for the NHM is insufficient to strengthen primary health care and improve the delivery of national health programmes, including the HPV vaccination programme,” he said.Similarly, Dr. Reddy noted that spending on the One Health programme remains “minimal,” despite its high priority in policy discussions at G-20 and other forums. The government’s flagship medical insurance scheme, Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), saw a mere 1.4 percent increase in its budget. Dr. Reddy described this increase as inadequate, especially as the programme expands to include ASHAs, ANMs, and elderly persons.Dr. Rout also expressed concern that the budget allocations may not adequately cover the elderly population, who were to be included in the scheme as per Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement during the Lok Sabha elections.In her speech, Sitharaman announced the exemption of customs duties on three cancer medicines, Trastuzumab Deruxtecan (for HER-2-positive breast cancer), Osimertinib (for non-small cell lung cancer), and Durvalumab (for various cancers including biliary tract cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma). She also proposed changes in the Basic Customs Duty (BCD) on X-ray tubes and flat panel detectors used in medical X-ray machines.Dr. Pragya Shukla, Head of Clinical Oncology at Delhi State Cancer Institute, welcomed the exemption but stressed that more immunotherapy drugs are needed. “We also need to develop indigenous molecules or biosimilars to make these therapies affordable,” she said.The budget did see a 10.8 percent increase in the allocation for health research, with a total of Rs. 3,301.73 crore, up from Rs. 2,980 crore in 2023-24. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) received an increased allocation of Rs. 2,732.13 crore, up from Rs. 2,295.12 crore. The National Tele Mental Health Programme, introduced in the 2022 budget, received Rs. 90 crore, compared to Rs. 65 crore previously. However, the allocation for the National Digital Health Mission remained unchanged at Rs. 200 crore.Ashutosh Raghuvanshi, Managing Director and CEO of Fortis Healthcare Limited, urged for increased attention to healthcare sector demands. “The budget does not address longstanding issues such as increasing GDP spend on healthcare to 2.5%, prioritizing healthcare as a national issue, promoting medical value travel in India, addressing indirect taxation and unused MAT credits, and rationalizing GST,” he said. “We hope these issues will be considered in future budgets to build a healthier, stronger India.”
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