Govt to explore setting up of specialised med centres in NE

Government will soon explore the possibility of setting up specialised health care facilities in the Northeastern states, including through public-private participation.
Union Minister of State for Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER) Jitendra Singh said the central government will explore new initiatives in the field of health and medical care for the region.
"The feasibility of these initiatives either purely as public enterprise or through public-private participation will soon be worked out," he said.
The issue was discussed by Singh at a meeting with a team of medical entrepreneurs led by Joint Managing Director of Apollo Hospitals Sangita Reddy here yesterday.

Reddy handed over to the Minister a request letter for a possible public-private initiative in health and medical care in the Northeast, an official release said.
Singh said many states in the region have sought the reinforcement of healthcare and medical facilities.

However, there was no final word and it was yet to be decided whether this could be accomplished purely through public exchequer or public private partnership.
Despite nearly half a dozen medical colleges in the region, the Minister said, the Northeast is still faced with a huge shortfall of health resources.
With increasing health awareness among all sections of society, the need of the hour is not only quantitative supplementation of the services, but also provision for quality healthcare so that patients from the region do not have to travel to long destinations for treatment, he said.

Singh said reinforcement of specialised and super-specialised healthcare in the region also held the potential to attract medical tourism from neighbouring countries, thus generating revenue and economic uplift of the region.
While seeking to bring the Northeast closer to the mainstream, DoNER Ministry will also try to make the region a part of pan-India state-of-the-art healthcare infrastructure, he said.
Being himself a medical professional, Singh said he will be open to suggestions and offers from various healthcare agencies from both private as well as public sector.