VIJAYAWADA: YSRC MP V Vijayasai Reddy on Tuesday urged the Centre to include the family doctor system of Andhra Pradesh government in the National Health Mission (NHM). This will ensure ‘accessibility, affordability and adequacy’ of quality healthcare for all Indians, he said.
Making a special mention in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, he said 75% of healthcare facilities in India are concentrated in urban areas, catering to just 27% of the population. There is an urgent need to decentralise healthcare in rural areas and for this, the tradition of family doctors must be revived, he stressed.
Family doctors provide general healthcare services to patients at grassroot level. They address a wide range of health problems, either through direct treatment or by referring patients to specialist doctors. By filtering healthcare needs in rural areas at the initial stage, the family doctor model can provide three benefits, the MP said.
“Firstly, it will bring down dependence on informal healthcare providers. Secondly, it will reduce avoidable hospitalisation through better diagnostic accuracy. Thirdly, it will ensure cost-efficiency by minimising the burden on secondary and tertiary healthcare sectors,’’ he explained.
He further added that the AP government, under the leadership of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, is already leading by example. “It has implemented the family doctor model on a pilot basis in select districts. However, to ensure universal healthcare for all Indians, the family doctor model should be incorporated in the NHM,’’ the YSRC MP asserted.