Vice President addresses 8th Annual Summit of the NATHEALTH
Vice President Addresses 8th Annual Summit of the
NATHEALTH
Why is it
in news?
Recognising that the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the
healthcare systems world over, the Vice President said that India, as a team,
fought back admirably and showed great resilience in the face of adversity.
“This is reflected in the indigenous development of vaccines and administration
of over 180 crore doses, which is a stupendous achievement and a global
benchmark,” he added. Shri Naidu also praised the commitment and sacrifices of
Indian healthcare workers- both in the public and private sectors.
Addressing the 8th
Annual Summit of the NATHEALTH
through a pre-recorded video message, the Vice President said that over the
course of the pandemic, we have learnt many valuable lessons related to the
challenges in our healthcare system and called for using this experience
towards re-imagining a resilient healthcare system for a new phase in the
post-COVID era.
Highlights
1. The Vice
President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu today emphasised the need to rebuild,
restructure and reinvent our healthcare systems for the post-pandemic era of
the 21st century.
2. He wanted
all stakeholders—public, private and all concerned to join together in this
humongous task of strengthening India’s health infrastructure and ensure the
well-being of the people.
3. Noting the
pressing need to increase public expenditure in health, the Vice President
wanted this increase in spending to go hand-in-hand with capacity building,
such as increasing the doctor-to-population ratio, as per the WHO standards.
4. Calling
for urgently bridging the spatial disparity in healthcare facilities between the
urban and rural areas, Shri Naidu stressed the need for immediate impetus to
primary healthcare in the rural India. Talking about the need to bring down
high out-of-pocket expenditure on health in India, he appreciated various
government programs in this regard including Ayushman Bharat, Jan Aushadhi
Kendras and the proposal to increase the number of district hospitals among
others.
5. The Vice
President also said that COVID-19 pandemic has shown the potential of using
digital technologies and suggested leveraging our strengths in the ICT for
improving the healthcare. “Digital health and Telehealth services must be
expanded to remote rural areas to ensure equitable access to quality
healthcare,” he said.
6. Shri Naidu
also called for greater focus on curbing the worrying trend of increasing
Non-Communicable Diseases in India, which account for around 60 per cent of
deaths in the country. Stressing the need to create greater awareness among
people on these ‘lifestyle diseases', he urged health experts and cultural
icons to take the lead in this regard.
7. The Vice
President congratulated NATHEALTH for bringing together key stakeholders onto
one platform to discuss the important topic of public health, and conveyed his
best wishes to the organizers, participants and the members of the Healthcare
Federation of India for their sterling efforts.