The Central Government is considering constituting a National Paramedical Council as the country is facing a crunch of Paramedical staff, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare JP Nadda, said on Friday.
He said that availability of more and more paramedical staff is the need of the hour as presently the health sector is facing a shortage of 2 lakh paramedics.
Nadda was addressing the inaugural session of the two-day National Conference of Indian Society of Radiographers and Technologists at the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) in Chandigarh. Delegates from all over India and abroad are participating in the scientific event having seven sessions.
The Health Minister said that paramedic staff is the back bone of the medical profession and skill development of the radiographers and other medical technologists was very much required to improve the overall performance of the health sector.
He said that 32 components had been identified for the training of Radiographers and other medical technologists. Union government was planning to constitute a regulatory body in the shape of National Paramedical Council to deal with issues related with paramedics. The proposed body would be constituted on the pattern of Paramedical Council of Himachal Pradesh.
He said that the Government has taken steps towards capacity building in paramedics. Amount of `493 crore had been earmarked for allied medical courses. With the advent of technology, the treatment of a patient was not confined to doctors only and paramedics too played an important role in health care. Thus, they need to work with a team-centric holistic approach.
Nadda said that the patients in hospitals have long been out-numbering the number of medical staff. Touching the issue of growing number of Cancer patients he said, around 11 lakh new patients of Cancer were being added to the existing number of patients every year.
And around 5 lakh succumb to this deadly disease in the same period. To provide medical care to the patients of Cancer, Government had set up 20 Cancer institutes in different states and around 50 tertiary Cancer care units were being set up, he said.