Ten years after taking steps to set up six All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)-like institutes in six States, the NDA regime this time wants to expand such super speciality hospitals across the country.
This would not only ensure easy access to healthcare to the poor but also take care of the current shortage of human resources in the sector, said Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan as he asked the Chief Ministers to come up with such a proposal for their States.
Incidentally, it was Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA Government which had first conceived the idea of setting up six AIIMS-like institutes at Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Jodhpur, Patna, Raipur and Rishikesh under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) launched in 2004. The idea was to relieve the original one in Delhi of the burden of catering to patients coming from far off places in droves.
All the Six-AIIMS like institutes have all begun partial operations in giving tertiary health care as well as quality under-graduate and post-graduate medical education.Harsh Vardhan said that the Centre would consider having more AIIMS like projects if the Chief Ministers of the States show interest and ensure adequate land.
“land acquisition should not be a problem for a hospital because it is for a public purpose. Moreover, it would be a Government-run free facility and no private company would make profits. So I would request all Chief Ministers to avail this opportunity,” the Minister said.
AIIMS, apart from bridging the yawning gap between hospital beds and demand for them (less than 1 per 1,000 population) could also develop more doctors and paramedics. The doctor-population ratio in India is at present 1 to 1,800 whereas World Health Organisation has stipulated a minimum of 1 to 1,100, the Minister pointed out.
On Friday, he reviewed the progress of implementation of the new AIIMS projects with their directors on construction and civil works, procurement of equipment, and recruitment of faculty and doctors.Underlining the need of such projects, the Minister noted that the common experience is that most doctors are unwilling to serve in rural areas.“On the other hand doctors from small towns and villages are forced to find employment in big cities where they take years to establish themselves. But once super-speciality, AIIMS-like Government hospitals come up in district towns, the needs of both the population and doctors could be served,” the Health Minister said.