India's health sector received an extraordinary allocation in Budget 2021, PM Modi said as he was addressing a webinar on effective implementation of Budget provision in the health sector.

Congratulating both government and private health sectors of the country in fighting Covid-19 pandemic in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said, "Last year was a test for the country as well as the world. We have been successful in this fight and the credit also goes to private sectors."

"Covid-19 has taught us that we need to be prepared for future diseases too. So it is important to strengthen all aspects of the health sector — from medical equipment to medicine, from ventilators to vaccine, from doctors to epidemiologists," PM Modi said, terming this year's budget allocation to the health sector as "unprecedented".

This is the time to take accessibility and affordability to the next step, the PM said as he said how India's health sector has been an example in front of the world. "In the coming days, the World's dependence on India will only go up. India's medical education, Indian doctors, nurses will soon be in high demand. We need to keep this in mind," PM Modi said.

The world has taken note of the strength of India's health sector, PM Modi said. "We have to be prepared for this growing demand from the world. In the coming days, students from other countries will be flocking to India to study medicine and we should encourage that," he said.

"Government's budget allocation is a catalytic agent. On the ground, things will change when we all work together. Our approach towards the health sector is different from that of the previous government. Our approach is holistic as it encompasses cleanliness, nutrition, wellness, the prevention of diseases and all other allied sectors. Before, the health sector was fragmented," PM Modi said addressing a webinar on the effective implementation of the provisions of Budget 2021 in the health sector.

Drawing a parallel between Covid-19 and tuberculosis, PM Modi said, "If the same preventive measures are taken against TB, we will be able to free India from TB by 2025 as TB too spreads from the droplets of an infected person."

"There might be some sections which did not get the expected allocation, but this is not the last budget. So it is time to get going and put the money to the best use as fast as possible," PM Modi said.

By hindustantimes.com | Edited by Poulomi Ghosh

UPDATED ON FEB 23, 2021 11:09 AM IST