Staff Reporter
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Wednesday announced that 157 new nursing colleges will be established in co-location with the existing 157 medical colleges established since 2014.
In her Budget proposals presented in Parliament, she also informed that a mission to eliminate Sickle Cell Anaemia by 2047 will be launched, which will entail awareness creation, universal screening of seven crore people in the age group of 0-40 years in affected tribal areas, and counseling through collaborative efforts of central ministries and state governments.
On medical research, she said that facilities in select ICMR Labs will be made available for research by public and private medical college faculty and private sector R&D teams for encouraging collaborative research and innovation.
To promote research in the medical sector and innovation, the finance minister said that facilities in select ICMR Labs will be made available for public and private medical college faculty and private sector R&D teams.
A new programme to promote research and innovation in pharmaceuticals will be taken up through centers of excellence, the Finance Minister announced. “We shall also encourage industry to invest in research and development in specific priority areas,” she added.
Highlighting the importance of futuristic medical technologies and high-end manufacturing in the medical sector, Sitharaman stated that dedicated multidisciplinary courses for medical devices will be supported in existing institutions to ensure the availability of skilled manpower for futuristic medical technologies, high-end manufacturing and research.
Here are some key health-related highlights of the budget 2023.
- Launch of a mission to eliminate sickle cell anemia by 2047 by creating awareness and universal screening of 7 crore people in 0-40 years age group in affected tribal areas
- Select ICMR labs will be available for research by public and private medical college faculty and private sector R&D teams for encouraging collaborative research and innovation.
- Launch of a new programme to promote research and innovation in pharmaceuticals
- Three Centres of Excellences of Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be set up to in top educational institutions, leading industry players will partner in conducting interdisciplinary research, develop cutting edge applications and scalable problem solutions in the areas of health, agriculture and sustainable system.
- 30 skill India international centers will be set up across various states. Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY)0 will be launched to skill lakhs of youth within the next three years. It will cover courses for Industry 4.0, Covid, AI, robotics, mechatronics, IoT and drones.
- Dedicated multidisciplinary courses for medical devices will be supported in existing institutions to ensure availability of skilled manpower for futuristic medical technologies, high-end manufacturing and research.
- Cigarettes have become expensive. A welcome step as India bears a high burden of tobacco-related diseases being the second largest consumer and producer of tobacco.
- The budget allocation for Jal Jeevan Mission has been substantially increased to Rs 50,000 crore. Rs 2.87 trillion has been announced for the launch of the Jal Jeeven Mission Urban. It aims at universal water supply in all 4378 urban local bodies with 2.86 crore household tap connections as well as liquid waste management. The target of ongoing Har Ghar Jal mission is to supply water to all rural households by 2024.
- The budget has lot of initiatives for green growth, which should bode well for the environment and indirectly to health. Under the National Green Hydrogen Mission aiming to move towards a low carbon intensity economy and reducing dependence on fossil fuel imports, India is targeting to reach an annual production of 5 MMT of green hydrogen by 2030. To promote circular economy, 500 new ‘waste to wealth’ plantswill be established under GOBARdhan (Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan) scheme.