Vice President focusses on bridging the rural-urban gap pointing health care in India

 

New Delhi, December 7: “We need to bridge the gap between the urban and rural divide when it comes to health care facilities. We have to make quality health care affordable and easily accessible.”, said Indian Vice President M Venkhaiah Naidu at the 46th convocation of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in the national capital. Dr. A. K. Sataya, Dr. Samira Nundy, Dr. Kamal Buckshee and Dr. Gomathy Gopinath of AIIMS were awarded with the Lifetime Achievement Awards during.

 

“Medical education has undergone a paradigm shift from class room based didactic teaching to self directed small group learning using principles of adult learning. The traditional methods of learning via imparting knowledge have evolved into competency-based learning.”, tweeted the Vice President in relation to the occasion.

The vice president continued to address saying there is a need to establish an institution like AIIMS in every state. “It is estimated that out of the pocket expenditure 60 percent constitutes to cover all the healthcare expenses. A major drawback in a country like India where a large segment of the population is still comparatively poor, approximately 63million people fall into poverty each year due to lack of financial protection in relation to their health care needs.”, he added further.

AIIMS New Delhi is governed by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences Act, 1956. Established in 1956 in New Delhi, AIIMS is the first Indian centre to perform a successful cardiac transplant. It marks as the leader in stem cell therapy, especially cardiac and neurological. It was the vision of Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, the first Health Minister of India, to establish an institute of such nature in India.

 

Focusing on the urban rural divide in relation to the health care facilities further, Naidu said,“70% of the India’s health care infrastructure is in the top twenty cities. We have to bridge this urban rural divide in providing state of the heart, health care services. Highest priority has to be accorded in strengthening the primary health care and tertiary care. We need to increase the number of doctors available at health care centres residing in the rural areas.”

 

 

“We must incentivise the rural doctors. It is a matter of concern that the absence of the qualified medical practitioners is making people to go to quacks in rural areas. I also feel that in the present times of specialisation and super specialisation, greater focus needs to be paid on the discipline of family and community medicine. This will help in providing the comprehensive health care for all people of all ages in families and communities.”, said Naidu expressing his personal opinion.

The vice president concluded on the point that India is phased with the paradoxical situation. On the one side it is grappling with health care issues and on the other it is providing health care solutions to patients from other countries.