{"id":29028,"date":"2024-09-05T18:50:20","date_gmt":"2024-09-05T13:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=29028"},"modified":"2024-09-05T19:40:11","modified_gmt":"2024-09-05T14:10:11","slug":"allocations-for-health-sector-state-level-challenges-and-opportunities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/editorial-analysis\/05-09-2024\/allocations-for-health-sector-state-level-challenges-and-opportunities","title":{"rendered":"Allocations for Health Sector: State-Level Challenges and Opportunities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/ Health<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>In Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Union Budget\u2019s allocations for health sector initiatives like the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM) and Human Resources for Health and Medical Education (HRHME) depend heavily on State-level implementation.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>These Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) require States to share costs and manage operations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#ebecf0\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Key Initiatives<\/strong><br><strong>PM-ABHIM:<\/strong><br>&#8211; Focuses on building Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWCs), Block-level Public Health Units (BPHUs), and Critical Care Hospital Blocks (CCHBs). The aim is to boost preparedness for future health emergencies.<br>&#8211; Includes integrating district public health laboratories (IDPHLs) to streamline health infrastructure.<br><strong>HRHME:<\/strong><br>&#8211; Seeks to address the shortage of medical personnel by establishing new medical, nursing, and paramedical colleges.<br>&#8211; Aims to upgrade district hospitals and attach them to new medical colleges to increase access to healthcare and education.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key Issues Pertaining to This<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Low Fund Utilisation:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In PM-ABHIM, only about 29% of funds were utilised in 2022-23. In HRHME, fund absorption was similarly low.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Factors like complex grant structures and overlapping funding streams have slowed implementation. For instance, only 45% of the health grants from the 15th Finance Commission were utilised, highlighting inefficiencies in the system.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Construction Delays:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Many scheme components involve construction, which is often delayed by rigid procedures and administrative hurdles. This affects fund absorption rates.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Faculty Shortages:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A significant shortage of teaching faculty across newly created medical colleges, especially in Empowered Action Group (EAG) States like Uttar Pradesh, where 30% of teaching positions remain vacant. This shortage is particularly severe in rural Community Health Centres (CHCs), where two-thirds of specialist positions are unfilled.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Fiscal Constraints at the State Level<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>States must bear the recurring costs of maintaining the health infrastructure built under PM-ABHIM and HRHME. Since the Union government&#8217;s support for human resources is limited until 2025-26, States will need to plan for long-term financial commitments.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Creating fiscal space will be essential for sustaining these health initiatives and meeting additional costs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Address Human Resource Shortages:<\/strong> Filling teaching faculty and specialist vacancies is critical to ensuring that new medical infrastructure is fully utilised.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Improving fund utilisation through better public financial management processes at both the State and central levels can help accelerate implementation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Long-term Financial Planning: States need to plan for the recurring expenditures required to maintain<\/strong> the infrastructure built under these schemes, ensuring sustainable health services beyond 2025-26.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Infrastructure Expansion: <\/strong>Expanding infrastructure beyond urban centres, particularly in underserved areas, is crucial for addressing regional health disparities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The success of Union Budget allocations for the health sector largely depends on overcoming the challenges at the State level, including better fund utilisation, addressing faculty shortages, and ensuring long-term fiscal planning.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Collaboration between the Union and State governments, along with improved implementation mechanisms, will be key to transforming these initiatives into meaningful health outcomes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#fff2cc\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Daily Mains Practice Question<\/strong><br><strong>[Q] <\/strong>Discuss the challenges in implementing health sector schemes at the State level. What measures can ensure effective utilisation of resources?<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Daily-Editorial-Analysis-5-09-2024.pdf\">Download PDF<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Union Budget\u2019s allocations for health sector initiatives like the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM) and Human Resources for Health and Medical Education (HRHME) depend heavily on State-level implementation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial-analysis"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29028"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29028\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29035,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29028\/revisions\/29035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}