CHENNAI: As the new government is set to present its second budget, public health experts underscored again the need for dedicated fund allocation for public health and preventive medicine. The State was presenting separate demand for grants for public health decades ago, but it was later merged with Health and Family Welfare Department, former director of public health Dr K Kolandaswamy said.
While the budgetary allocation for health and family welfare was Rs 12,563 crore in 2019-2020, a non-Covid year, Rs 15,863 crore was allocated in 2020-21, and the sector got Rs 18,931 crore in 2021-2022 budget. Though there has been a 20 per cent hike in allocation over the last two years, and `495 crore was earmarked for prevention and control of diseases, the sector needs more funds to tide over the shortage of specialised staff at multiple levels.
When Covid struck the State in March 2020, the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine took centre stage in controlling the pandemic. As the impact of Covid may continue for years, the number of health inspectors who play a key role in controlling infectious diseases should be increased, Dr K Kolandaswamy said.
“We now have one village health nurse for every 5,000 people in rural areas and one urban health nurse for 10,000 people in urban areas. The number of health inspectors should be increased to match that of nurses. Lack of enough health inspectors was one of the reasons for the spike in dengue cases in the State. So, more funds must be allocated for increasing manpower,” he said.
“The total number of health nurses in rural and urban areas is 12,000. The number of male staff, including health inspectors and supervisors, in public health department, however, is only 4,000,” he pointed out . While women employees are primarily engaged in child and maternal healthcare, immunisation and family welfare work, men are engaged in controlling infectious diseases, Kolandaswany said. “Though the State allocates 70 per cent of health and family welfare department funds to primary healthcare, only 30 per cent of it is spent for public health and preventive medicine, including research,” said Dr M Janakiram, public health expert.
Funding for non-communicable diseases like cancer and diabetes is another area of concern, say doctors. The State should start an oncology department in every medical college hospital as cancer cases are increasing. More funds should be allocated for this too in this budget, said Dr G R Ravindranath, general secretary, Doctors’ Association for Social Equality. Several employees in government institutions are working under contract basis, and their service should be regularised, he said.
People living with HIV have also requested the government to allocate funds for Drop In Centre (DICs) exclusively for infected women and children. The DICs will offer counselling, psychological support, and organise support group meetings. The centres will also link PLHIV with care and support service providers, and educate them on government schemes.
Previous governments had allocated Rs 7.5 lakh for one centre and sanctioned 34 centres. The DMK government must sanction Rs 10 lakh for each centre and sanction 12 centres exclusively for women and children, said P Kousalya, president, Positive Women Network.