“Overall, the health market players may not be too happy since there aren’t any major reforms for the entire health industry announced by the union finance minister Arun Jaitley in his maid budget presented today in Lok Sabha,” said Amol Naikawadi, Joint Managing Director, Indus Health Plus.
Naikawadi further said “We have again failed to make government realize that it is importance to address the increasing health issues. Various non-communicable and communicable diseases are taking toll which affects the nation’s health and overall growth.”
“The free diagnosis services under Health for All will encourage more people to undergo healthcare checkups which will further help in early diagnosis and treatment of diseases. The opening of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and 12 medical colleges will ensure better medical facilities, tertiary care and trained medical professionals but this however may solve sectorial problem only. Nationally the concern for health can’t be addressed with this number. Increased Gross domestic product (GDP) allocation on healthcare will make good healthcare services almost affordable to the lower income groups. This would also include spending more on public health services and making health insurance available to all. The tax benefit offered in general will be of a great help for the disposable income earners to invest in preventive healthcare” says Amol Naikawadi.
“Increase of tax by 60 -70% on cigarette will decrease the consumption rate, hence the risk of cancer can be reduced due to smoking and tobacco consumption,” added Naikawadi.