Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu today expressed his concern over the urban-rural gap in health infrastructure and called upon the private sector to join hands with the government to bring the latest healthcare diagnostic and treatment facilities to the rural areas at an affordable cost.
He said, “There is an urgent need to bridge this divide so that people in rural areas also get access to modern and state-of-the-art healthcare in their own villages.” Stressing the importance of providing quality healthcare to every individual, the Vice President said, “No one in our villages should suffer because of lack of medical facilities.”
Complimenting the government for allocating a sum of Rs. 2,23,846 crores to health in the recent budget, he said:”I am certain that this move will give a powerful boost to creating healthcare infrastructure in our country and most importantly, cut the out-of-pocket expenditure on health.”
The Vice President also called for spreading awareness on health schemes like Ayushman Bharat so that the underprivileged could take advantage of it.
Citing India’s incessant efforts of sharing resources with the rest of the world, the Vice President said, “We lived up to our age-old philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam by supplying medicines and medical equipment to over 150 countries in the world. Since the rollout of the “Made in India” COVID vaccines in January this year, India has supplied vaccines to several countries.” He said that India’s reputation of being a “pharmacy to the world” shines even more brightly today.
Noting the toll hospital visits take on patients and their family members, the Vice President, appealed to the healthcare providers to explore ways to improve patient experience and reduce patient suffering. Calling for bringing a human touch to medical profession, he said that the doctors should not just rely upon the medical tests but also spend time with and talk to the patients. The Vice President also urged the doctors, actors and media persons to educate the public about the preventive steps and safeguard from Covid-19. He termed the politics, medical profession and education as means of public service.
(Source: PIB)
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