Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced full customs duty exemption to three cancer medicines, a step expected to lower their costs for patients. However, the 1.7 per cent increase in her 2024-25 budget outlay for health has disappointed sections of public health experts.

The Centre proposes to fully exempt Trastuzumab deruxtecan, Osimertinib and Durvalumab from import customs duty which is currently 10 per cent on these medicines. Sitharaman said the proposal is intended “to provide relief to cancer patients”.

Trastuzumab is primarily used in the treatment of a specific type of breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body and is under evaluation for use in other cancers such as gastric cancer. Osimertinib is used to treat small-cell lung cancer and Durvalumab is used to treat lung cancer and bladder cancer.

“The exemption will lower import costs which could allow more patients to access these medicines and potentially improve treatment outcomes,” said Mandeep Singh Malhotra, a surgical oncologist in New Delhi.

Sections of health sector analysts applauded the duty exemption on cancer medicines.

Health dismay

The proposed 2024-25 budget outlay for the health and family welfare department is ₹87.656 crore or a 1.7 per cent increase over the corresponding ₹86,175 crore last year. Health economists say the increase does not compensate for inflation and should be viewed as a decline in real terms.

“The health sector remains underfunded, neglecting the critical need for healthcare infrastructure and services,” Poonam Muttreja, the executive director of the Population Foundation of India, a non-government entity engaged in population, health and development issues.

“While the government has shown its commitment to economic empowerment of young people and women, it seems to have ignored the need to invest adequately in their health, education and social well-being,” she said.

The proposed 2024-25 outlay for the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission — an initiative intended to improve capacities of health systems across primary, secondary and tertiary levels to effectively respond to pandemics — has declined to ₹557 crore from ₹645 crore allotted last year.

The health infrastructure mission is aimed at strengthening 730 integrated public health labs, 3,382 block public health units, and 602 critical care blocks. The Centre had released around ₹1,228 crore for the mission during 2022-23.