The Hindu : `Allocation for health sector disappointing'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 07, 2003

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National

`Allocation for health sector disappointing'

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI March 6. The Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, Richard G.A. Feachem, today expressed dismay that even while there was a need for greater public spending on the health sector, the allocation made for it in the Union budget did not show much improvement over that made last year.

Pointing out that the Government had itself set a target to increase public spending on health from the current level of 0.98 per cent of the GDP to two per cent of the GDP by 2010, he said that "it is somewhat of a disappointment" that the allocation made in this year's budget for public health programmes like AIDS, TB and malaria "went in the opposite direction".

Mr. Feachem, who is here on a 10-day visit, said several donors to the Global Fund with whom he had spoken to during the past few days, had also expressed disappointment over the provisions made for public health programmes in the budget. "I have taken up the issue with the Planning Commission during discussions with them", he said, speaking to reporters here.

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