58 dist hospitals being upgraded to medical colleges : PM

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the National Centre for Ageing at AIIMS, New Delhi, on June 29, 2018. The Prime Minister also dedicated the underground connecting tunnel between AIIMS and JNPA Trauma Centre, and Power Grid Vishram Sadan at AIIMS along with the 500 bed New Emergency Block and 807 bed Super Specialty Block at the Safdarjung Hospital to the nation.

Union Health and Family Welfare Minister J P Nadda,  Ashwini Kumar Choubey and Anupriya Patel, Ministers of State for Health and Family Welfare, were also present at the event.

Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister said that the government has been successful in taking healthcare out of the ambit of the Health Ministry and today we have Rural Development Ministry, Water and Sanitation Ministry, Women and Child Development Ministry and Ayush Ministry with our vision of healthcare.

The PM added that our vision is not limited to hospitals, diseases, medicine and super specialty care but also with the idea that affordable and equitable healthcare should be ensured for every citizen. He further said that the Government is equipping existing hospitals with the all the modern facilities and at the same time it is also making sure that the healthcare facilities reach to the remotest areas of the countries. He added that 58 district hospitals are being upgraded to medical colleges and the government has also sanctioned budgets for 24 new medical colleges.

The Prime Minister said that the global target for eliminating TB is 2030, but we have set 2025 as target for India to eliminate TB, five years before the global target. He stated that the Government is providing Rs 500 to the TB patients towards nutritional support. Citing the examples of Mission Indradhanush and Swachh Bharat, he said that immunisation and sanitation coverage has increased drastically in the last four years, according to a PIB release.

The Prime Minister also mentioned about the Ayushman Bharat programme. He said that under the National Health Protection Mission, 10 crore poor and vulnerable families (approximately 50 crore beneficiaries) will be provided a coverage up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation. This will be the world’s largest government funded health care programme, he stated.

Nadda said that stated that it is the Prime Minister who has brought health to the centre-stage and there has been a visible change in the tertiary healthcare in the country and assured that the Government is committed to ensuring that the new AIIMS will meet the same standards of service as AIIMS, New Delhi. He said that the Ministry in the past 4 years has not left any stone unturned – from monitoring the clean and effective implementation of national programmes to establishing 13 new AIIMS like institutes across the country. He said under Ayushman Bharat, 1,50,000 sub-centres will be converted into Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs) that will deliver comprehensive primary health care.

The National Centre for Ageing will provide state of art clinical care to the elderly population and shall play a key role in guiding research in the field of geriatric medicine and related specialties. The Centre will also be a key training facility for under- graduate and post graduate courses. The Centre will provide multi-specialty health care and will have 200 general ward beds, which will include 20 medical ICU beds. The centre will be developed at a cost of Rs 330 crore and shall be completed by February, 2020.

The underground tunnel is providing connecting facility between AIIMS and JPNA Trauma Centre and will reduce the commute time between the two centers. The completed length connectivity between two centers is approximately 1 km and has been completed at a cost of Rs 44 crore.

The Powergrid Vishram Sadan has a 300 bed night shelter facility meant for the patients and their relatives visiting AIIMS main hospital and JPNA Trauma centre at AIIMS. The 11 floor facility has been constructed at a cost of Rs 32.67 crore and funded by the Power Grid Corporation.