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The Union Health and Family Welfare Minister, Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss today said that steps are being taken to promote India as a healthcare destination for people from around the world. He said that efforts are being made to utilize the healthcare expertise and infrastructure available in the country for promoting medical tourism. He was speaking at a two-day International Conference on the Pharmaceuticals Industry in the 21st Century. Delivering the keynote address at a session on healthcare consumers, the Minister said that India enjoys a competitive advantage at the International level by virtue of its vast English speaking technology manpower. In view of the proven strength in processing re-engineering skills and low cost research and development, India offers strategic opportunities as a potential location for pharmaceuticals research, he said.
Outlining the growth of the healthcare services in India for nearly half a century, the Minister said the demographic and health picture of the country still constitutes a cause for concern. The Minister reiterated the UPA Government’s commitment for greater focus on health and said that the Government was determined to raise the public spending on health from the present 0.9 per cent to at least 2 to 3 per cent of the GDP over the next five years.
Outlining the steps been taken to realize the commitments for improving public healthcare services, Dr. Ramadoss said that a new National Rural Health Mission is being launched.
The goals of National Rural Health Mission are to provide an accredited social health activist in each village as a trained health worker, preparation if inter-sectoral village health plans, creation of a frontline team of health in each village in the form of a village health committee, strengthening the community health centre/sector PHC as a full-fledged first referral unit for assured quality hospital care and to implement all these, a district health mission plan supported by a district health fund.
The Mission proposes to provide 2,50,000 community health activists as village level health providers in underserved areas. Over 2000 rural hospitals at the level of community health centres would be upgraded to a uniform set of standards developed as Indian Public Health Standards to benchmarks effective levels of service. A team of community health professionals would monitor the Mission. It would also have sanitation as a major component for which institutional arrangements would be made.
EK/MK.
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