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CHENNAI: Covid-19 has given Tamil Nadu enough reasons to invest more in health as the sector witnessed the highest expenditure since March 2020. Former deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam, during his interim budget in February this year, had announced that the State had spent Rs 13,352 crore for the Covid-19 mitigation measures since the pandemic began.
Tamil Nadu, on an average, spent 5.4 per cent of its budget in health between 2015 and 2021. This is just marginally higher than the average of all the States (5.3%). In 2021, the State allocated 5.7 per cent of its total budget to health, which is higher than the average allocation of 29 states. This, however, may not be enough.
The high-level group constituted by the 15th Finance Commission recommended that States must progress towards raising budget allocation for health to 8 per cent of the total budget by 2025. Till date, however, no State or Union Territory could meet the target 8 per cent, except for Delhi, which had spent 12 per cent.
Dr. G Ravindranath, General Secretary of Doctors Association for Social Equality (DASE), said that funding for health must be tripled. “The increase in funding must focus on the welfare of doctors, nurses, regularising temporary staff, and Covid-19 relief assistance,” he said. The budget must also ensure manufacturing of medicines and equipment within the State; at the moment, even paracetamol needs to be brought from other States, he said. Former director of public health Dr K Kolandasamy, who also headed the health department during the first wave of the pandemic, said that increasing district health workers and non-communicable-diseases health nurses is vital for disease control across the State.
“From 8,000 male health nurses over a decade ago, it has now been brought down to 3,000. While maternity and child-health nurses are in healthy numbers, male health nurses, key to door-to-door surveillance of non-communicable diseases, are dwindling. These are the people responsible for bringing patients to hospitals,” he said. Dr Kolandasamy also said that every government hospital in the State requires an exclusive infectious-diseases ward as such patients cannot be treated in the general ward or other specialty wards.
“We also need stronger and better laboratories for testing. This is the weakest spot in our health system; even now, we are sending samples to other States for testing,” Kolandasamy added. “We are finding only 50-60 per cent of pathology of the fever cases,” he added.
Dr Ravindranath, meanwhile, said that PHCs must be increased in the city in proportion to the population so as to deburden tertiary hospitals.
‘Rs 300 crore allocated for doctors pay hike’
One long-standing demand of doctors in Tamil Nadu is a pay scale equal to the doctors of the Central government. They have been seeking implementation of G.O 354, which was tabled in 2009. “The government needs to allot Rs 300 crore a year for this to implement G.O. 354. This has been a long-standing demand and is to secure the wellbeing of government doctors,” said Dr S Perumal Pillai, President, Legal Coordination committee for Government Doctors.
While demands in health sector are many, the State’s revenue has taken a hit. The State spent an excess of 22 per cent in 2020-2021 compared with 2019-20. Former deputy CM O Panneerselvam had said that debt for TN as on March 31, 2021, is estimated to be Rs 4,85,502.54 crore; it is estimated to be Rs 5,70,189.29 crore as on March 31, 2022.
Allocation at a glance
Since 2009
One long-standing demand of doctors in State is a pay scale equal to doctors of the Central government. They have been seeking implementation of G.O 354