Modern labs to come up in 100 districts: Azad

The project is aimed to provide better medical services to the people in remote areas, the Minister said at 19th annual conference of Vascular Society of India here.

Three districts of Rajasthan have been included in the list of 100 districts to set up modern laboratories, Azad said.

The health ministry will take the support of Doordarshan and All India Radio for disseminating information about the modern laboratories to the people, he said.

Speaking in the conference, Azad said special concessions have been granted to encourage setting up of medical colleges by private parties.

The minimum area requirement for a medical college has been reduced from 25 acre to 20 acre, he said.

Azad further said that the minimum area requirement in major cities has been brought down to 10 acre.

The minister pointed out efforts were being made to improve the doctor-patient ratio in the country.

Azad said that India has only about 59 doctors for every 100,000 people, which is much less than the ratio prevailing in developed countries.

Over 90 million Indians are at risk for various types of vascular diseases including stroke, peripheral arterial disease, carotid artery disease and aortic aneurysms, he said.