VIJAYAWADA: Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu on Monday said focusing on reducing the growing gap in human resources in healthcare is the need of the hour. “The coronavirus disease came as a reminder of the need to improve the infrastructure at primary, secondary and tertiary levels of the health sector, and increase the number of doctors and medical staff,” he pointed out.
Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated a 1,200 LPM oxygen plant at Pinnamaneni-Siddhartha Medical College at China Avutapalli near here. In an interaction with medical students, he noted that there is a huge gap in the doctors-patients ratio in India.
“It is commendable that the Central government is making arrangements to have one doctor for every thousand patients by 2024 as suggested by the WHO. At the same time, steps are also being taken under Ayushman Bharat to improve the critical healthcare infrastructure in rural and urban areas in the next 4-5 years,” he said, and pitched for public-private partnership in the sector.
He observed that the medical profession is sacred and medical students need to maintain high values so that they can effectively maintain the sanctity of the profession. The V-P was also of the opinion that the government doctors need to mandatorily serve in rural areas before their first promotion.
“Healthcare has become a costly affair, pushing the poor and the middle-class into misery. Our endeavour should be to ensure healthcare remains affordable and accessible to all. The private sector should join hands in this regard to strengthen the government’s efforts,” Venkaiah Naidu said.
The Vice-President said technology should be used effectively to expand healthcare service to rural areas through telemedicine. This would curb costs and also make basic healthcare accessible to rural people.
The ‘Ayushman Bharat Mission’ launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be of great benefit to the people, he felt. “Focus should be on bringing affordable medical care to all, and the private sector should also support the government’s efforts in this direction.”
He commended doctors and other medical professional for their crucial role during the peak of the pandemic. He also praised the Centre and State government for providing Covid vaccine to 105 crore people across the country.
Expressing his delight at the restoration of economic activity, the Vice-President said governments should not be lax in taking precautions until the health situation is fully under control. “In the face of the growing impact of infectious diseases in recent times, it is imperative for us to make lifestyle changes and practice yoga and meditation,” he observed
Gannavaram MLA Vallabhaneni Vamsi Mohan, former minister Kamineni Srinivasa Rao, Siddhartha Academy president N Venakateswaralu and others were also present.