Apollo Group chief seeks stimulus for healthcare

Apollo Group Chairman Pratap C Reddy today sought a stimulus package for the healthcare sector, saying it would provide a fillip to GDP growth and generate at least 2-million jobs in the next ten years.

Talking to mediapersons here, he wondered why the Government was shying away from providing stimulus to healthcare as has been done in the case of other segments.

There was a need to build 10,000 hospital beds in the next ten years. If the government announces stimulus, the key sector would be able to offer world-class health services besides generating lakhs of jobs, Reddy said.

He was speaking to the media after announcing the launch of an international health centre and acquisition of latest non-invasive radio surgery equipment for Apollo Hospitals here.

"While the government provides such packages for IT and other sectors, it shies away from terming healthcare as an industry," he said.

Health stimulus package can help to fill the huge void India has in terms of insufficient number of doctors and other specialists, Reddy said.

There was a need to triple the number of nurses and increase the number of technologists by at least four times, he said.