A healthy population is a fundamental ingredient of inclusive development and nation building. Universal access to quality health care is not just a social imperative; it is a necessary condition for economic progress and prosperity,” said Vice President Hamid Ansari on Saturday at the PGI.
Speaking on the occasion of the conclusion of the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the institute, he said that an unhealthy population imposes enormous social and economic costs on society and hinders sustainable development.
He said that high quality preventive and curative care is now available within the country for treating complicated diseases and performing complex procedures, which was not always the case in the past.
“India is now emerging as an important destination for what is termed as ‘medical tourism’ with visitors from all over the world coming to our country for treatment and healthcare,” said Ansari.
The Vice-President expressed his concern that despite these achievements, however, the overall health profile of India’s burgeoning population projects a disturbing picture.
He showed his resentment towards the laxity in some avenues of the health care system and said that India might not fulfill the millennium development goal set by the WHO by the year 2015
However, on an optimistic note he said, we have in past decades made significant progress in medical sciences and healthcare. Our health care system today is a mix of public and private sector providers of health services. Networks of health care facilities at the primary, secondary and tertiary level, run mainly by State Governments, provide free or very low cost medical services. There is also an extensive private health care sector, covering the entire spectrum from individual doctors and their clinics, to general hospitals and super speciality hospitals.