In a bid to build a more robust health ecosystem for India, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Union Budget 2023 announced a slew of measures of the pharma sector.

To build a stronger healthcare workforce, the FM announced creating 157 new nursing colleges.

The FM also stressed on boosting pharma research & underlined a strong need to develop a vibrant platform within the country for pharmaceuticals & medical devices.

To bolster the manufacture of medical equipment & devices, facilities in the ICMR labs will be made available for both the public & private players for carrying out research in the pharma sector.

Sitharaman also announced a mission to eliminate sickle-cell anemia by 2047.

The mission will include awareness creation & counselling though collaborative efforts of central ministries and state governments.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be set up in top educational institutions & leading industry players will partner in conducting interdisciplinary research, develop cutting edge applications & scalable problem solutions in the areas of health, agriculture & sustainable system.

The finance minister also announced investment of Rs 36,785 crore in the National Health Mission (NHM) this year, which is a Rs 375 crore decrease from Rs 37,160 crore budgeted in 2022-2023.

Sitharaman allocated Rs 7,200 crore to the Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (PMJAY) under the Budget 2023. This is an increase of Rs 743 crore from its FY23 allocation of Rs 6,457 crore.