The health ministry has been allocated a budget of Nu 3.62bn for the 12th Five Year Plan. But the ministry has proposed the budget be increased to over Nu 4bn to the Gross National Happiness Commission (GNHC) Secretariat.
Health Minister Dechen Wangmo shared this at the first Meet the Press session on Friday.
The additional fund, Lyonpo said, is needed to provide quality and comprehensive health care services to the people.
The GNHC Secretariat hasn’t come to a decision on the matter yet.
Meanwhile, Lyonchhen Dr Lotay Tshering said while Bhutan provides free health care services, the health ministry has always been allocated a budget of only about Nu 3.4bn to Nu 3.5bn, which is not even 4 per cent of the GDP.
“So, if you look at these two together, we never had enough budget, meaning for a very less proportion of the budget that is spent on health, we are giving everything free,” Lyonchhen said.
“We have done enough and very well on the primary health care. Now, we are embarking on tertiary healthcare,” the prime minister added.
