Affordable health top priority, use tech for universal wellness: PM Modi

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted on Monday that providing affordable healthcare has been the top-most priority of his government even as he called for more use of technology as this will help the aim of universal healthcare. He maintained that the pharma sector in India can grow from Rs 4 lakh crore to Rs 10 lakh crore if the academia and the private sector work in tandem.

Addressing his ninth webinar on the budget with the theme 'Health and Medical Research', the prime minister said Ayushman Bharat and Jan Aushadi alone have saved Rs 1 lakh crore of poor and middle class patients while PM-Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission has ensured construction of new hospitals and a creation of a complete health ecosystem.

Modi underlined that during the Covid pandemic while the world was struggling to protect the health of the people, India went a step further and focused on wellness as well. "That is why we have put forward a vision before the world-One Earth, One Health. This involves holistic healthcare for all creatures-humans, animals or plants," he said.


The prime minister also mentioned the disruption in the supply chain and lamented that life-saving equipment like medicines, vaccines and medical devices were weaponised when the pandemic was at its peak. His government has even in previous budgets made constant efforts to reduce India's dependence on foreign nations, he said.

A whole-of-the-government approach has also been a focus area. "Making medical treatment affordable has been the top-most priority of our government," he said. Through Ayushman Bharat, about Rs 80,000 crore of the poor patients were saved due to free treatment under the scheme.