Union government has set aside Rs 1.4 lakh crore for the 11th Plan period for the healthcare sector. This is a substantial increase over 10th Plan period allocation, according to Dr Anbumani Ramadoss, Union minister for health and family welfare.

Of this amount one third is for institutional infrastructure and the remaining is for the creation of healthcare human resources.

The allocation made under the X Five Plan was Rs 40,000 crore. Now with the Rs 1.40 lakh crore, it is able to provide increased assistance for innovative schemes which includes the Pradhana Mantri Swasthya Surkasha Yojana (PMSSY). Another scheme which is expected to be launched shortly is the National Urban Health Mission (NUHM). The mission will take off within a period of two months. Of the total allocation of Rs 22 crore, Rs 6 crore is for the healthcare needs of the slum dwellers in the urban areas. In this connection, USHAS will be launched on similar lines of the ASHAS, or Accredited Social Health Activists.

Plans are underway to introduce the National School Health Programme where diagnosis of dental, ENT, neurology, dermatology, cardiology, respiratory and anaemia will be carried out annually at the educational institutions.

The government will also introduce Health as a subject in the next academic year. The children can gain knowledge on environment, HIV, population and nutrition among others. It will also make Yoga compulsory at the school level.

Dr Ramadoss who was in Bangalore at the Victoria Hospital for inauguration of the Nursing college and hostel within the Victoria Hospital, lauded Karnataka government to introduce yoga in schools.
The government, under the National Rural Health Mission, has allocated Rs 16,500 crore, of which Rs. 12,500 crore has been sanctioned. Karnataka has received Rs 1,145 crore for upgradation of rural health infrastructure. With over 70 per cent of the population living in the rural areas only 25 per cent have access to healthcare. The government is now making efforts to increase the number of 'ASHAs'. Efforts are on to have one ASHA for each village, stated the Union health minister.

As part of its efforts to increase the human resources in the healthcare sector, the government will increase the number of specialists from 3,500 to 7,000. The number of doctors required will be 8 lakh from the current 7 lakh. There will also be a need of an additional 1.5 million paramedics from the current 1 million.

The Union minister for health also called upon the Karnataka government to commence caesarean section at the Primary Health Centres (PHCs) as Tamil Nadu government has done.