Govt committed to transform healthcare landscape: Health minister Mandaviya

The government is committed to transform the country's entire healthcare landscape, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said Wednesday, highlighting that this dispensation opened several new AIIMS, raised the number of medical colleges to almost double and operationalised more than 10,000 Jan Aushadhi Kendras.

He was speaking after virtually inaugurating a Super Specialty Block at Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Memorial Medical College in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. He also laid the foundation stone of an All India Institute of Speech and Hearing (AIISH) Satellite Centre in Kanpur.

"This Super Specialty Block offering 12 super-specialty services will help people take these specialised services locally, saving their valuable time and resources," he said.

On the AIISH Centre in Kanpur, he said it will be the first such state-of-the-art centre in North India which will not only train doctors but also provide care to people.

It is the dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that AIISH institutes be established all over the country on the lines of AIISH, Mysore, the health minister said.

"It is the commitment of the Union government to transform the entire gamut of healthcare landscape of the country," he said.

"The number of AIIMS in the country has increased from six to 23 in the country, the number of medical colleges have almost doubled to 710, Jan Aushadhi Kendras have increased to more than 10,000 and other similar achievements like doubling of MBBS and PG seats and the establishment of more than 1.60 lakh Ayushman Aarogya Mandirs under the Ayushman Bharat scheme underscore the rapid progress being achieved in the healthcare sector in India," he said.

On the healthcare initiatives taken for Uttar Pradesh, the Union minister said it is the only state in India to have two AIIMS. The number of medical colleges in the state has also doubled in the last 10 years, he said.