Govt approves Rs 15,000 crore emergency health fund to fight coronavirus

No Customs duty, health cess on ventilators, masks, PPE, and Covid-19 test kits for 6 months

The central government announced a coronavirus disease (Covid-19) emergency response and health system preparedness package of Rs 15,000 crore to support efforts to combat the pandemic and prepare for future outbreaks.

Of this, Rs 7,774 crore will be utilised for immediate response, the rest for medium-term support of 1-4 years, which would be provided under mission mode, a press statement said.

A major share of the expenditure will be used for mounting a robust emergency response system, strengthening pandemic research and multi-sector national institutions, and national and state health systems.

“The fund is specifically formed as an emergency response to ensure health system preparedness. We have written to states about the fund and will share more information with detailed instructions,” Lav Agarwal, joint secretary at the health ministry, told reporters.

The fund will be used to procure essential medical equipment, drugs, personal protective equipment (PPE), masks, and ventilators. It can also be used for activities such as community surveillance, upgrading hospitals, and ambulances.

The first phase of the scheme has to be implemented by June. Some of the main activities that have to be undertaken in the first phase include setting up dedicated Covid-19 hospitals, isolation blocks, additional human resources, oxygen supply, disinfection of hospitals, government offices, and public utilities.

A total of 223 labs comprising a network of 157 government and 66 private laboratories are conducting screening for Covid-19.

A high-level meeting of a group of ministers, including Ministers of Health, Civil Aviation, Home Affairs, Shipping, External Affairs, and Chemical and Fertilizers, was also held to discuss containment strategy, management efforts, and availability of PPEs and N95 masks.

Around 20 domestic manufacturing units have been developed to manufacture PPEs. Orders for over 17 million PPEs and 49,000 ventilators have already been placed. “Supplies have started coming in now. We have to use these items such as masks, PPEs in a rational manner and there is limited availability,” said Agarwal.

The government on Thursday also exempted ventilators, face and surgical masks, PPE, and Covid-19 test kits from the basic import duty and a steep health cess for six months to overcome shortage of these amid rising cases of the global pandemic in the country. Besides, it did away with import taxes on the inputs for manufacture of these products to promote domestic production to meet the elevated demand.

“In the context of Covid-19 situation, considering the immediate requirement of ventilators and other items, the central government has granted exemption from basic Customs duty and health cess. This basic Customs duty exemption shall be available up to the September 30,” Ministry of Finance said in a late evening release on Thursday.

The Centre has set up high level multi-disciplinary teams to implement containment plans and procure ventilators. Ten such teams have been sent to nine states — Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, and Maharashtra.

The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, based in Hyderabad, and the CSIR Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology in Delhi have undertaken a study to understand the evolution of Covid-19 and genome sequencing, said Agarwal.

With inputs from Dilasha Seth