NEW DELHI: Home Minister Rajnath Singh has said the government is attempting to bridge the gap between demand and supply of quality healthcare through PPPs keeping in mind the population pressure in the country.
Speaking at the 44th convocation of AIIMS here, he also stressed on the need to improve the quality of care through tertiary, primary and secondary healthcare systems.
“In view of the population pressure, the government is trying to bridge the gap between demand and supply of quality healthcare through public private partnerships (PPPs),” Rajnath said. The Home Minister said though the government has successfully overcome many health challenges, there are many that still need to be conquered like malaria. Singh also drew attention towards hygiene, sanitation and cleanliness which play a crucial part in preventing diseases and urged citizens to contribute to the Prime Minister’s cleanliness campaign. He said AIIMS, which is a nursery of medical talent, needs to expand to meet the growing needs for medical human resource in the country and added that the expansion plans for the institution have been taken up and are underway. Addressing the gathering, the President of the Institution and Health Minister J P Nadda said six AIIMS have already been made operational and 12 new AIIMS are being set up in different parts of the country to set standards of medical education and healthcare at par with the best institutions in the world. Nadda stressed that “Health for all” is a national goal and a priority for the government and the ministry is committed to doubling the capacity of AIIMS, Delhi in next two years. “Existing premier medical colleges are also being upgraded with top notch infrastructure and facilities. Medical teachers will also be closely involved in policy planning, regulation and enforcement of standards in medical education,” Nadda added. The Health Minister said the government is committed to ensure that the new AIIMS will meet the same standards of service as AIIMS, New Delhi. “AIIMS, New Delhi has a great testimony and we must try to replicate it in the new AIIMS. The new institutes will be ‘AIIMS’ and not ‘AIIMS-like’,” said Nadda. The Health Minister advised doctors to explore possibilities of establishing interdisciplinary research groups to address larger research priorities, grand challenges of basic, translational, clinical and public health research. “New solutions in healthcare are inherently complex and cannot be cracked without interdisciplinary expertise. Multi- disciplinary teams are the need of the hour. I would like you to forge research coalitions that span different departments of AIIMS as well as reach out to other centres of excellence and researchers in the country,” Nadda said. He said India faces the dual burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases unlike many other countries which have to address only one of these and the government is moving forward on various internationally mandated health indices. 693 students received their degrees at the event and Nadda also gave away the lifetime achievement awards. A commemorative stamp was also unveiled to mark the Diamond Jubilee Foundation Year of AIIMS, Delhi. The Health Minister also inaugurated the first advanced cardiac Dual Source Dual Energy CT Scanner in India. It is the first of its kind in South Asia and is a versatile equipment for investigating various cardio-vascular diseases. — PTI
