Budget 2026 focuses on pharma and medical tourism, overlooks public health needs: JSAI

By A Representative 

Jan Swasthya Abhiyan India (JSAI) has criticised the Union Budget 2026, stating that it overlooks core public health needs while prioritising the pharmaceutical industry, private healthcare, medical tourism, public-private partnerships, and exports related to AYUSH systems. In a press note issued from New Delhi, the public health network said that primary healthcare services and public health infrastructure continue to remain underfunded despite repeated policy assurances.

The organisation noted that the Budget projects an increase in health allocations to ₹1,04,559 crore from ₹99,859 crore in the previous financial year, which may create an impression of renewed commitment to public health. However, according to JSAI, an analysis of budget trends over the last five years shows a decline in real health expenditure when adjusted for inflation and rising healthcare needs. It also pointed to consistently high lapsing of funds in the health sector, ranging between 11 and 14 per cent in recent years, as highlighted in reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General on Union Government Finance Accounts.

JSAI said that budgetary allocation for health as a share of GDP has remained stagnant over the past three years, ranging from 0.31 per cent in 2023–24 to 0.29 per cent in 2024–25 and 2025–26. This, it said, is far below the long-standing national and international commitment of allocating at least 5 per cent of GDP to health, and has weakened public health infrastructure, human resources, and essential services across the country.

According to the organisation, the Budget largely neglects primary healthcare services and the public healthcare system, which it described as critical for middle-class and marginalised populations. It raised concerns over provisions aimed at promoting medical tourism, exports of Ayurveda products, and the allocation of ₹10,000 crore to boost the pharmaceutical sector with a focus on exports, questioning who the Budget ultimately serves.

JSAI said that proposals such as new facilities at NIMHANS, the establishment of Ayurveda centres, tax exemptions on drugs for cancer and rare diseases, and the upgrading of the WHO Centre for Traditional Medicines in Jamnagar are welcome steps. However, it cautioned that in the absence of effective regulation, patients may continue to bear high out-of-pocket costs.

Reiterating that the apparent increase in health allocations masks a decline in real expenditure, JSAI renewed its demand for a substantial increase in public health spending to at least 5 per cent of GDP. It also called for ring-fencing the health cess exclusively for public health, greater transparency in the reporting and utilisation of health-related revenues, strengthening states’ fiscal capacity to deliver public health services, and sustained public investment rather than reliance on collections alone.