Health minister JP Nadda urges medical students to join rural, tribal postings

Speaking at the event organised by the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad, Nadda said free dialysis services for below poverty line patients has helped 11.1 lakh people get over 12 lakh free dialysis rounds in government hospitals.

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Health Minister JP Nadda (PTI /File Photo)

Calling on medical students to join rural and tribal postings, Union Health Minister JP Nadda addressed the issue of shortage of doctors during the inauguration of the All India Medical and Dental Students’ Conference at DY Patil University, Nerul, on Saturday.

“We have a shortage of manpower but we have been giving doctors to the US and London,” Nadda said, adding that undergraduate and post-graduate seats for medical students have been increased by starting 86 new medical colleges and 12 dental colleges in the country. The minister added: “We have already increased the central budget for health by 27 per cent. We are ready to increase the capacity for states further if they first utilise their allocated budget.”

Speaking at the event organised by the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad, Nadda said free dialysis services for below poverty line patients has helped 11.1 lakh people get over 12 lakh free dialysis rounds in government hospitals.

The government has also started 83 outlets for Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment (AMRIT) under which, patients are given medicines with 90 per cent discount. Nadda claimed that 19 lakh patients have been provided with medicine for Rs 70 crore while the market cost stood at Rs 172 crore.

“The government is also pushing for the use of generic medicines. About 700 medicines have been brought under the essential medicines list to help poor patients get easy access at government hospitals,”he added.

He also said that a policy needs to be drafted to transfer medicines nearing expiry from one centre to another where the demand is high.

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