"The bill, which seeks to institute far reaching measures to protect the rights of persons with mental illnesses, will be passed during the current session of Parliament," he said at the 18th Convocation of National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences here.
Azad said the Centre had approved Rs 5,200 crore for setting up 71 cancer institutes across the country.
He said one such institute will come up in Delhi, 20 in different states and 50 at tertiary level.
Azad said the centre, under National Rural Health Mission has released more than Rs 1,11,000 crores to 35 states and urban territories.
Also Read
He said two new All India Institute of Medical Sciences are coming up at Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh and Raiganj in West Bengal.
The Minister stated that mental health should become part and parcel of non-communicable diseases framework.
Stating robust mental health is pulse of any society, Azad pointed out that Union Health Ministry has identified 11 institutions across the country as centres of Excellence for Mental Health Care.
"Policy makers need to devise a framework to transfer the scientific knowledge to ground-level practitioners and funding agencies need to increase research and infrastructure investment for translational research," she said.
Mazumdar-Shaw said there was a crying need to pursue innovation-led translational research aimed at developing effective treatment for a wide range of life-threatening diseases.
"India needs to explore measures to expedite clinical research," she said.