States Urged to Set Up More Medical Colleges

Union Health and Family Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Wednesday called upon the State Governments to set up more medical colleges and to increase the number of students in post-MBBS and PG courses. In his inaugural address at the national conference of State Health Ministers and Secretaries that began here this morning, Azad said: "The Government of India has provided Rs. 53,000 crore to the states under National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in the last six years. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has proposed Bachelor of Rural Healthcare course to overcome the shortage of medical staff in remote and hilly areas of the country."

Azad, however, said that key health indicators like infant mortality rate and maternal mortality rate still remain areas of concern despite the triumph made under National Rural Health Mission.

About 25 Ministers and Secretaries of health and medical education are scheduled to take part in the two-day conference.

The conference is expected to review the current state of implementation of health programmes in the country and the steps to be taken for strengthening them.

In addition, a host of issues related to health sector will come up for discussion during the conference.

Source-ANI