Healthcare industry body NATHEALTH has asked the government to address systemic gaps such as acute shortage of medical specialists, escalating cancer care costs, and inadequate hospital infrastructure to meet the demands of a growing population in the upcoming union Budget. In its pre-Budget recommendations, NATHEALTH sought increasing budgetary allocations of the healthcare sector to over 2.5 per cent of GDP and asked Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to address the growing burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases, compounded by long standing challenges. "The upcoming Union Budget offers an unprecedented chance to address systemic gaps such as the acute shortage of medical specialists, escalating cancer care costs, and inadequate hospital infrastructure to meet the demands of a growing population," NATHEALTH President Abhay Soi said in a statement. Soi, who is also the Chairman & Managing Director of Max Healthcare Institute Ltd, further said, "Expanding hospital ...