In what can be seen as the first acceptance of the failure on the part of the government to provide adequate healthcare service during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Economic Survey report 2023 has said that “no set of measures is sufficient to counter any instantaneous shock like the pandemic."
This, said the report tabled by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Rajya Sabha on January 31, was because the measures are designed with the assumption of ‘ceteris paribus’, meaning everything else remains the same.
"But the major difference is that we are operating in a new normal, and hence towards the end, it is all about better management of the crisis and planning ahead,” it added. “Thus, the strong inventory India has built over the last few years will improve the country’s overall health infrastructure and governance system”.
ECONOMIC SURVEY 2023: Catch all the updates here
India is one of the countries which has learned the most from the pandemic to create a mechanism for protecting its citizens and economy, stressed the report and also said that after the successful rollout of two doses of indigenous COVID-19 vaccines, the third dose was introduced for all adults.
Better infra after pandemic
The report detailed the dedicated COVID-19 Infrastructure through which a three-tier arrangement of dedicated COVID-19 health facilities in the country had been implemented to reduce the risk of cross-infection to non-COVID patients and to make provision for non-COVID essential health services.
Also read | Economic Survey 2023: Govt spent 2.1% of GDP on healthcare in FY23
Over two years since the pandemic was declared, the government, said the report, had taken various fiscal and social measures to balance the revival of the economy and deal with increasing caseloads.
These included ramping up health infrastructure, both physical and digital, enhanced training of health professionals and, continuing with the mass vaccination drive under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan, the Union Government focused on scaling up expenditure on health infrastructure by investing in grass root health institutions.
As part of the initiative, the report stressed, health and wellness centres in rural and urban areas have been ramped up, critical care hospital blocks had been set up in all districts and the laboratory network and surveillance were strengthened by integrated public health laboratories in all districts and blocks and public health units to manage pandemics.
The state governments also took various measures to fight the pandemic. This was complemented by digital infrastructure through Co-WIN for mass vaccination and e-Sanjeevani for telemedicine to reach the last mile.
“The timely intervention at all levels helped India navigate the COVID-19 pandemic successfully despite successive shocks,” the report also said.
Vaccination: The success story
Hailing the COVID-19 vaccination drive as a mega success story, the report noted that by January 6 this year, more than 220 crore vaccine doses were administered which included nearly 22 crore booster doses.
Also read | Economic Survey 2023: Govt keeping check on drug prices through direct price control, Janaushadhi stores
As of now, 97 percent of the eligible beneficiaries have already received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and around 90 percent of them are fully immunised.
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