Punjab budget focuses on poverty reduction, economic infrastructure: health sector allocated Rs 6500 million

The Punjab budget for the year 2007-08 presented by the provincial Finance Minister, Husnain Bahadur Dreshak in the Punjab Assembly here on Thursday seeks to make available ever increasing resources for development focussed on poverty reduction, social service delivery and economic infrastructure apart from focussing on strengthening public-private partnerships for investing in infrastructure development, services and social sectors.
Official sources told Business Recorder, here on Friday that the budget provides the fiscal foundation required to bring Punjab yet closer to its ultimate objective to provide impetus to the process of making Punjab a more prosperous, educated, healthier, developed and enlightened province with improved service delivery and enhanced quality of life for its citizens.
According to the sources, the focus of the budget is to divert expenditure towards comprehensive coverage of key social sectors that affect the common man. This year's budget has a greater focus on economic infrastructure development that would generate higher revenues for Punjab by invigorating the momentum of economic activity.
The government is mindful of the fact that the cost of doing business has to be reduced to provide fiscal space required to divert resources towards development of the province, the sources said, adding Punjab has matured into a progressive province that values the synergy of the public and private sectors and their collaborative potential to chart a prosperous and enlightened course for the people of the province. Moreover, in a bid to establish a sound healthcare system vital for efficient delivery of health services to the people, the Punjab government has allocated a sum of Rs 6,500 million for health sector for financial year 2007-08 which reflects an increase of 51-percent over the current fiscal.
According to the budget document, out of this total allocation Rs 3,315 million have been allocated for preventive health care, Rs 2,210 million for tertiary care hospitals, Rs 325 million for medical education, Rs 130 million for research and development and Rs 520 million for Chief Minister's accelerated programme for social development.
The provincial health programme, the document adds, is guided by key objectives including measurable impact on MDGs through improvement in the health delivery services with significant reduction in incidence of disease, better health management system including patients management, reduction in poverty as well as social protection for vulnerable population groups, improved primary/secondary and tertiary health care through effective and quality referral system and optimal utilisation of facilities, improved capacity for data analysis research as well as evidence and outcome based planning and community participation and public-private partnership.
The document further says that as many as 190 Rural Health Centres (RHCs) would be completed by end of current financial year and another 105 RHCs and 2456 Basic Health Units (BHUs) would be fully covered this year under the Health Sector Reforms Programme (HRSP). In this regard, government would continue working on various projects launched for improved devolved healthcare services delivery, maternal and child health care, nursing and preventive health care.
Under ADB funded Women Health Project, upgradation of Gynae and Obstetric wards, operation theatres as well as provision of electro-medical equipment is being completed in six district headquarter hospitals, 12 tehsil headquarter hospitals and 49 Rural Health Centres (RHCs) in eight districts.
About 65-percent (US $48.75m out of a total of US $75m) of the total ADP programme funds would be spent on health-related interventions. Primary and secondary health areas with a greater focus on the preventive side would be targeted to ensure effective and pro-poor devolved social service delivery.