Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in his 17th budget announced several initiatives to strengthen healthcare and expand welfare services across the state.
According to the budget, Rs 45 crore will be allocated to casualty department, operation theaters and Intensive Care Units (ICUs) to be upgraded in phased manner across all district and taluk level hospitals.
The government will be providing free insulin pens for Type 1 diabetes for children under 18 years.
Essential medicines for low birth weight and sick newborns, comprehensive newborn care will be strengthened at the cost of Rs 10 crore.
Nutrition Rehabilitation Centres will be started in 63 taluks at the cost of Rs six crores.
Karnataka Budget 2026| More police stations, sophisticated prison equipment proposedUnder the 'Anaemia Muktha Poushtika Karnataka' scheme, anaemia screening has been conducted for 52 lakh school and college students. Free treatment has been provided to 11.7 lakh children diagnosed with anaemia, of whom 3.7 lakh children have fully recovered. Treatment and follow-up for the remaining children is being continued.
Rs 900 crore has been allocated for construction of Primary Healthcare Centers, Community Healthcare Centers and Taluk Hospitals to complete works started in the last three years.
At the cost of Rs 20 crore annually to upgrade 50 high-demand dialysis centers to 150-bed capacity to provide 1.35 lakh dialysis services.
The government has also decided to revise the existing 2018 treatment package rates under the Ayushman Bharat-Arogya Karnataka (AB-Ark) scheme by adopting HBP-2022 package rates. This will enable poor patients to receive quality healthcare services. An additional Rs 400 crore will be provided for this purpose. The scheme will be implemented through convergence of funds under Yashasvini Scheme, Karnataka Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board (BoCW, Employees' State Insurance (ESI), and other allied schemes.
After pressure from the ASHA workers, an increment of Rs 1,000 has been announced in the budget.
Other announcements:
1.Kerala Home based palliative care will be provided in collaboration with Pallium India for patients suffering from severe, chronic and terminal illness.
2.A Public Health Cadre will be implemented in a phased manner by ensuring objectivity in the appointment of District Health Officers (DHO), District Surgeons (DS) and other administrative posts.
3. Digitization of all registers maintained by health department staff across the state through `Samasta' Mobile Application.
4. Implementation of completely computerized registration, digitalisation of health records, and UPI-based payment systems in government health centres.
5. Setting up of Tele-radiology and tele-labor rooms (Smarty Labour Room) in all health institutions.
6. The successful ISKCON food supply model will be extended to select district and taluk hospitals in the state.
7. Panchakarma units will be established in district and taluk select AYUSH hospitals on a self-sustaining model.
8. 2,500 vacant posts in the department will be filled up.