Presenting Budget 2020-21 in Parliament, Sitharaman said: "More hospitals shall be empanelled under Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Yojna, especially in the tier 2 and 3 cities for poor people to be benefited."

 

She said, "We have a holistic vision for healthcare in the country. Mission Indradhanush has been expanded to cover 12 diseases, and 5 new vaccines have been added. Fit India campaign is vital to fighting non-communicable diseases (NCDs)," adding "safe water availability under Swachh Bharat Mission will help support the holistic health vision.

 

"Viability gap funding window will be set up to cover hospitals, with priority given to aspirational two and three tier districts that don't have hospitals empanelled under Ayushman Bharat," she said.

 

She said that the usage of machines and artificial intelligence in detecting and preventing the diseases will be a great help for the healthcare practitioners. She further said that TB eradication programme will be expanded. "The 'TB Harega Desh Jeetega' campaign shall be strengthened to end tuberculosis by 2025," she added.

 

Talking about the skill development in the healthcare sector, Nirmala mentioned, "there is a shortage of qualified medical doctors - both general practitioners and specialists; it is proposed to attach a medical college to a district hospital in PPP mode. In first phase, in those aspirational districts where there are no empanelled hospitals, details of the scheme to be worked out soon."