Cancer treatment, Karunya Scheme get priority as healthcare outlay rises 16% in Kerala budget

Kerala's healthcare sector received repeated praise from Finance Minister K N Balagopal during the presentation of the state's 77th budget on Thursday. Reflecting this emphasis, allocations to the sector have been increased by 16.28 per cent compared to the previous year.

The FM has earmarked ₹2,500.31 crore for the healthcare sector — ₹350.12 crore more than last year's allocation. Of the total outlay, around 44 per cent has been reserved for providing free healthcare under the Karunya Arogya Suraksha Padhathi (KASP) and for cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Overall, 5.44 per cent of the total budget outlay has been allocated to the health and family welfare sectors.

Free healthcare
Free healthcare for economically weaker sections remains a key government priority, with ₹900 crore earmarked for the KASP scheme. This marks an increase of ₹20 crore over the previous year. At present, around 42.09 lakh families across the state benefit from the scheme, which also covers all differently-abled and transgender persons irrespective of income limits.

The budget has also allocated ₹203 crore for cancer diagnosis and treatment. This includes ₹50 crore for the Malabar Cancer Centre, ₹30 crore for the Cochin Cancer Centre, ₹90 crore for the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC), Thiruvananthapuram, ₹30 crore for cancer treatment through medical colleges and ₹3 crore for district and taluk hospitals.

In addition, the government has announced a special 'Pneumococcal Vaccination Drive' targeting senior citizens aged 60 and above. ₹50 crore has been set aside for the programme. Moreover, ₹5 crore has been set aside for pain, palliative and elderly healthcare centres.

Strengthening public health infra
Balagopal also outlined the government's goal of making Kerala the first state in the country to provide dialysis facilities in all hospitals up to the taluk level. An allocation of ₹14.20 crore has been earmarked for this initiative.

To strengthen primary healthcare delivery, ₹70.92 crore has been allocated to integrate and sustain the second phase of the Aardram Mission, with a focus on comprehensive services at Family Health Centres (FHCs) and Janakeeya Health Centres.

The allocation for medical colleges under the Directorate of Medical Education (DME) has been increased to ₹259.93 crore, up by ₹37.13 crore from the previous year. New medical colleges in Idukki, Konni, Wayanad and Kasaragod will be further strengthened with an allocation of ₹57.09 crore.

An amount of ₹22 crore has been earmarked for hospital waste management in medical college hospitals, while ₹3.10 crore has been allocated to the Health Services Department.

Other major projects:
₹12 crore for installing a surgical robot at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College
₹27.60 crore for the Kerala Digital Health Mission
₹2.25 crore for the Insurance Medical Services Department
₹10 crore to construct and renovate hostels in medical and paramedical colleges for undergraduate and postgraduate students
₹7 crore for setting up Cath Labs and ICUs in hospitals under the Directorate of Health Services (DHS)

₹1.5 crore for the new Government Ayurveda College at Udumbanchola in Idukki
₹38 crore for the 'Kanivu' scheme under the Kerala Emergency Medical Services Project (108 ambulance service)
₹3 crore for setting up menopause clinics in district hospitals