Summary:
The number of government hospital beds was inadequate to handle the increasing rush of Covid and general patients” said the panel noting that the situation led to private hospitals heftily overcharging patients. The spending on health research should be increased to at least 1.72 per cent of the GDP which was the global average it said. “The Unesco Institute of Statistics data shows that the US spends almost 2.84 per cent of its GDP on health research and China spends 2.19 per cent. “The committee agrees with the Department of Health Research that a holistic approach is needed for ensuring bio-security against biological weapons. We strongly recommend the ministry to conduct more research and work towards training and capacity building for management of public health emergencies arising out of bio-weapons” said the panel..