Need to manufacure medical tools indigenously, says PM
Calls upon the start-up industry to come forward and do research
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said India should reduce dependence medical equipment and drugs imported from other countries.
Modi made the statement during releasing of a coffee table book titled ‘Indelible footprints on the sands of time’ by Tata Memorial Hospital. The Prime Minister released the book through video-conferencing from New Delhi.
The Prime Minister said 70 per cent of the equipment used in treating patients are imported from foreign countries, raising the treatment costs substantially and this situation has to change. “I call on the start-up industry to come forward and do research on how to manufacture medical devices indigenously. We want such devices get manufactured here so that patients can benefit,” Modi said during the video conference.
He said the government is aiming to provide the cheapest and best of health facilities to the poor and needy and it has thus it has come up with a national health policy using a holistic approach after a span of 15 years. “We want to take preventive and promotive healthcare system to the masses. In the coming years, our aim is that 2.5 per cent of the GDP should be spent on health care,” Modi said.
With the help and expertise of Tata Memorial Centre, four more cancer research institutes are being developed in Varanasi, Chandigarh, Visakhapatnam and Guwahati. “These will prove to be immensely beneficial for cancer patients who now don’t have to travel far to get treatment. This will also give relief to their families,” Modi said.
The Prime Minister further said apart from the research institutes, a National Cancer Institute will also come up at Jhajjar in Haryana. “We are coming up with new AIIMS and medical colleges across the country. We want every citizen to have access to the best medical treatment,” he said.
A nerve centre currently connects four cancer hospitals in India and helps doctors to discuss complex cases via video-conferencing. Plans are underway to start digital nerve centres in 108 cancer hospitals under the National Cancer Grid. The move will prevent patients, specially from the north east and West Bengal, from travelling ling distances to Mumbai.
The Tata Memorial Hospital’s book released by Modi traces the journey of the hospital, identifying and defining its growth and development.