President Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday said that healthcare facilities should be made affordable and accessible to the poorest of the poor in the country.
Speaking after laying the foundation stone for A Shambhu Shetty Memorial Haji Abdullah Superspeciality Hospital in Udupi on Sunday, Mukherjee lamented that the country was lagging behind in the healthcare sector.
“We are lagging behind in terms of number of doctors, nurses, healthcare centres, hospitals... not to speak of super-speciality hospitals. In advanced countries, the ratio of doctors to population is 1:1,000 whereas it is 1:1,700 in India, which is disheartening. The situation is all the more alarming in the vast hinterlands of rural India,” he said.
The President also condemned the attacks on doctors by relatives of patients. “Don’t resort to violence if doctors fail to save the lives of patients. Despite best medical facilities, there is no guarantee that a life will be saved. We should trust doctors who try their best to save lives and cure patients,” he said.
Health Minister K R Ramesh Kumar dismissed reports about privatisation of the district government maternity and children’s hospital. The hospital has been handed over to BRS Ventures only for offering quality healthcare service to the poor. The government has been n building super speciality hospitals on the premises of government hospitals, he added.
Published 18 June 2017, 19:45 IST