Kerala Budget 2025: ₹11,431.73 crore for healthcare sector; dialysis units in all Taluk hospitals

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Finance Minister KN Balagopal on Friday presented the state budget, with a strong focus on strengthening the healthcare sector. The budget allocates ₹2,915.49 crore for Medical and Public Health, marking an increase of ₹97.96 crore from the previous year.

Presenting the budget, Balagopal said, "Kerala is the state which has given free treatment to the highest number of persons in the country. During the period of the last three and half years, free treatment of ₹6,788 crore has been given to 25.17 lakh people. Treatment costing ₹6,271 crore has been given under Karunya Aarogya Suraksha Padhathi (KASP) to 24.06 lakh persons, treatment of ₹473 crore under Karunya Benevolent Fund to 62,122 persons and treatment of ₹1,736 crore to 8.49 lakh children under Arogya Kiranam Project at free of costs. Also, medicines 156 costing ₹2,700 crore have been distributed free of cost through KMSCL during the above period."

Meanwhile, Balagopal has announced several measures to expand speciality services. A new scheme has been introduced for providing specialized treatment in referral hospitals to patients from poor families suffering from non-communicable diseases like hypertension, cardiac disorders, and strokes.

For this, ₹45 crore has been allocated for setting up Cath labs at Medical Colleges in Alappuzha, Kozhikode, and Ernakulam. Furthermore, ₹10 crore is earmarked for the Heart Foundation at Trivandrum Medical College to install a Cath Lab, and ₹3 crore has been set aside for establishing Cath labs in major hospitals and upgrading existing facilities.

Cancer Treatment and Research

A total of ₹152.50 crore has been allocated for cancer detection and treatment, including ₹35 crore for Malabar Cancer Centre, ₹18 crore for Cochin Cancer Centre, ₹75 crore for RCC, and ₹24.5 crore for cancer treatment in government hospitals. Additionally, ₹2.5 crore has been set aside to transform all district hospitals into Model Cancer Care Centres.

To address space constraints at RCC, a 14-story building with a total carpet area of 2.75 lakh sq. ft. is under construction, and ₹28 crore has been allocated for its completion. A further ₹23.30 crore is earmarked for early cancer detection and treatment facilities, and ₹22 crore is set apart from the RCC plan share to provide advanced care for women and children with cancer.

Expanding Emergency and Critical Care Services

A sum of ₹80 crore has been earmarked to cover the operational costs of 335 advanced life-support ‘108’ ambulances under the Kerala Emergency Medical Services Project. Stroke care units will be established at Ernakulam, Thrissur, and Kannur Medical Colleges, General Hospital Kalpetta, and District Hospital Perinthalmanna, with the allocation increased from ₹3.5 crore to ₹21 crore. This initiative will make Kerala the first Indian state to have stroke care units in all district-level hospitals.

Dialysis facilities are also being expanded, with ₹13.98 crore set aside for the operation of 105 dialysis units under the Health Department. Kerala aims to become the first Indian state to have dialysis units in all district, general, and taluk headquarters hospitals.

Other Key Allocations

• ₹12 crore for the prevention of communicable diseases.
• ₹8 crore for setting up infertility clinics and modern laboratories in Women and Children hospitals.
• ₹2.4 crore for newborn screening programs to diagnose inborn disorders like congenital hypothyroidism and G6PD deficiency.
• ₹5 crore for NABL accreditation, ISO certification, and the first phase of the administrative block construction at the chemical examiner's laboratory.
• ₹7.34 crore for the Thiruvananthapuram and Shornur centres of the Institute for Cognitive and Communicative Neuro Science (ICCONS).
• ₹25 crore as the state’s share for the PM Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM).
• ₹27.60 crore for the e-health program.
• ₹50.93 crore for 130 hospitals, 818 dispensaries, and 24 sub-centres under the Department of Indian Systems of Medicine.
• ₹15 crore for the National Ayush Mission and medicinal plants mission.
• ₹43.72 crore for Ayurveda Medical Education schemes.
• ₹2 crore for the International Ayurveda Research Institute.
• ₹23.54 crore for the Homoeopathy Department.

Strengthening KASP and Health Insurance

The Karunya Aarogya Suraksha Padhathi (KASP) remains Kerala’s flagship comprehensive health insurance scheme, covering 41.99 lakh families with an annual insurance coverage of ₹5 lakh per beneficiary family. However, only 23.98 lakh families are eligible for the central share under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY). Since the inception of KASP, ₹5,082.67 crore has been spent, of which the state government has contributed ₹4,229.09 crore, while the central government has provided only ₹853.58 crore.

In the budget, the Kerala government has earmarked ₹700 crore as its share for KASP, which includes sub-schemes like Aarogya Kiranam for free treatment of children under 18 years, Thalolam for children with life-threatening diseases, and Sruthi Tharangam for children with hearing impairments.