Improving public health priority for state government: UP Health Minister

Stressing on the need for skilled medical professionals to strengthen the healthcare system, Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Siddharth Nath Singh said on Friday improving public health is a priority for the state government.

He addressing a workshop organised by the Uttar Pradesh government, the State Institute of Health and Family Welfare, US' Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

"Improving health of the public is a priority for us and we have made considerable improvements," Singh said after inaugurating the workshop on 'Core competencies for public health professionals'.

"We are still working on a system which is 40-50 years old,'' he said.

The minister said, "We need to develop a strong and effective healthcare system where professionals are skilled and trained to deal with the new and emerging challenges in public health sector.

Singh said there are many challenges in door-step delivery of health services and facilities services such as telemedicine, tele-radiology are giving relief to patients in some districts of the state.