Budget 2022: Can the finance minister solve India's health challenges?

History shows that the country can achieve ambitious targets in health

The annual ritual of scanning the Union Budget for signs of encouragement to the health sector unfailingly results in disappointment. While the telehealth programme for mental health, and allocation for anganwadi centres announced in the FY23 Budget are welcome, they are relatively minor tactical approaches compared to the grand vision and strategy for health that the country urgently needs. Before we sink into depression at another disappointing year of low government health spending, we must consider the following.  

First, the pandemic notwithstanding, or perhaps because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the fiscal space for health is small. The country has incurred