Budget expectation 2021: Ameera Shah, MD, Metropolis Healthcare

Despite the overwhelming infrastructure challenges, the diagnostic and the healthcare industry has played an unrelenting role to save patient lives during the pandemic. The lack of adequate public health infrastructure in India combined with a high out of pocket expenditure imposes a high financial burden on Indian households and therefore increasing the healthcare budget allocation in the coming decade is of utmost importance.

The need of the hour is to strengthen the provisioning of healthcare services through public-private partnerships. This will not only ensure quality healthcare for all citizens but also encourage much needed private investments into the industry. The government should also allocate funds towards universal vaccine coverage for all citizens and increased testing to combat a further surge in infections.