Spend more on health infrastructure: Nadda to states
New Delhi, Aug 5: Health Minister J P Nadda on Monday urged state governments to spend more on improving healthcare infrastructure and dismissed opposition allegations on reduction of allocations under the PM-Ayushman Bharat Healthcare Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM).
Replying to the debate on the demand for grants for the health and family welfare ministry in the Lok Sabha, Nadda listed the increase in number of medical colleges, steps taken for the reduction of out-of-pocket expenses on healthcare and initiatives for early screening of diseases such as cancer and sickle cell anaemia as achievements of the government.
"We don't believe in just making announcements. We believe in effective planning, ensuring last mile delivery, identifying bottlenecks in last mile delivery and taking steps to remove them," the minister said.
Nadda dared Trinamool Congress members, who were protesting, to tell the House why the West Bengal government had not shared the dengue registry with the Centre.
On opposition claims on reduction of funds for the health infrastructure mission, the health minister said states were able to spend just Rs 1,806 crore out of the budgetary allocation of Rs 4,200 crore in last year's budget.
"We are giving money, but it is not spent. You spend the money, we will allocate more funds if the existing funds are spent," Nadda said, adding that Rs 3,200 crore have been earmarked for PM-ABHIM this year.
Nadda said the Modi government has placed healthcare as a priority sector in the allocation made in the Union Budget.
"The health policy released in 2017 had set a target of 2.5 per cent of GDP for the healthcare sector by 2025. In this year’s budget the allocation for the health sector is 1.9 per cent of the GDP and we are on track of achieving the target," the health minister said.
Nadda said that in 2013-14, the budget for the health sector was Rs 33,278 crore, and today it stood at Rs 90,958 crore, which is an increase of 164 per cent.
He also mentioned that local governments have allocated an additional Rs 71,051 crore, as suggested by the 15th Finance Commission report.
"The National Health Mission (NHM) ensures that state governments strengthen their health infrastructure and logistics, with Rs 55 crore allocated from the total health budget," Nadda added.
He said that under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY), Rs 13,900 crore has been spent to strengthen tertiary healthcare.
On concerns voiced by the opposition on out-of-pocket expenditure, Nadda said the Modi government has succeeded in reducing it from 62 per cent to 41 per cent by strengthening Ayushman Bharat initiatives, making available free drugs and diagnostic facilities, and free screening.
The minister said the government has now approved 22 AIIMS spread across the country, of which 18 were operational and four were under construction.
He said the opposition should appreciate the achievements of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has ensured upgradation of 157 medical colleges.
Nadda said the number of medical colleges too have increased from 387 earlier to 731 at present. According to the minister the undergraduate seats have increased from 51,348 to 1,12,112, an increase by 118 per cent.
The minister said the number of post-graduate seats too have increased from 31,185 earlier to 72,627 at present, an increase of 113 per cent.
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China's exports rose higher than expected 8% in April as new US tariffs took effect
Beijing (AP): China's exports rose 8.1% in April from the year before, the government said Friday, faster than economists were expecting, though exports to the United States sank more than 20%.
Economists had forecast that China's global exports would grow about 2% in April, down from a whopping 12.4% year-on-year increase in March. Imports fell 0.2% in April from the year before.
The data were released a day before US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other top US officials were due to meet with Beijing's lead trade envoy, He Lifeng. The plans for talks in Geneva, Switzerland, could bring a shift in the stalemate over President Donald Trump's hikes in tariffs on Chinese good to as much as 145%.
But the world's two biggest economies are at odds over a raft of issues, including colliding strategic interests that will likely impede progress in the talks.
Some of the punitive tariffs, including Beijing's retaliatory 125% tariffs on U.S. exports, could be rolled back, but a full reversal is unlikely, Zichun Huang of Capital Economics said in a report.
“This means China's exports to the U.S. are set for further declines over the coming months, not all of which will be offset by increased trade with other countries. We still expect export growth to turn negative later this year,” Huang said.
China's politically sensitive trade surplus with the United States was nearly $20.5 billion in April, down from about $27.2 billion a year earlier. In the first four months of the year, China's exports to the United States fell 2.5% from a year earlier, while imports from the U.S. fell 4.7%.
Preliminary data also show that U.S. imports from other countries not subject to US President Donald Trump's 145% tariff on Chinese products have been rising quickly.
Exports to the United States form just a part of China's trade, and exports to the rest of the world have helped offset that weakness. Exports to Southeast Asian countries were up 11.5% from a year earlier in the first four months of this year. Exports to Latin America also climbed 11.5%. Shipments to India jumped nearly 16% by value, and exports to Africa surged 15%.
Some of the fastest growth was in Asia, reflecting moves by Chinese and other manufacturers to diversify their supply chains outside of the Chinese mainland.
Exports to Vietnam jumped 18% year-on-year, while exports to Thailand were up 20%.
Measured on a monthly basis, China's total exports rose just 0.6% in April, while imports increased by nearly 4% from March.
