Spending on health will be increased up to three times in the 12th Five Year Plan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said while speaking at the foundation stone lying of the Lady Hardinge Medical College project here. He also said that more medical and nursing colleges were needed to overcome a shortage of trained human resources in the sector.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also said that health indicators reflect a country's overall well-being.
"Recognizing the need to provide for the complex challenges in the health sector, the allocation for health has been enhanced three times in the 12th Plan as compared with the 11th Plan allocation," Manmohan Singh said.
He said the government has paid more attention to medical education. In the last three years, the number of MBBS seats in medical colleges has increased by over 30 percent and the seats for post-graduate programs by 51 percent.
"However, the availability of trained human resources remains a challenge. We need to set up more nursing and medical colleges to increase both undergraduate and postgraduate seats in the 12th Plan," he added.
The prime minister further said that nutrition, drinking water, sanitation, housing and education, particularly of the girl child, were increasingly being referred as the social determinants of health.
Prime minister said that generic drugs would be made available free in all public hospitals across the country so that the poor do not have to spend more on health.
--with inputs from IANS
|
|
Comments:
