The government must raise the healthcare budget considerably at least to the extent that the entire health machinery including our public health systems is prepared to deal with emergency health situations such as the ongoing pandemic efficiently and without much damage to people’s health. The government must invest enough through this budget into genetic research, vaccine and immunisation research apart from other avenues of research including epidemiology and biotechnology. Thirdly, the private sector whether it is the healthcare providers or the pharma sector must be given policy and economic support in the form of a tax rebate, easy loans, utility payment relaxations and exemptions. Fourthly, there is a need to bridge the urban-rural and big town-small town gap in terms of availability of health infrastructure, equipment and personnel.
