No screening tests for overseas Indian doctors to practise

In what is viewed as the first major impact of the ongoing Global Healthcare Summit, Pradhan said the Centre was ready with the bill to amend the Medical Council of India (MCI) Act and allow overseas Indians to practise in their homeland as demanded by the expatriate professionals for long.

"We expect to bring the bill during the Budget Session of Parliament," he said, addressing the CEO Forum held as part of the three-day healthcare summit which began yesterday.

The high-profile Forum, attended by top brass from the industry and senior officials from the Centre and the state, also decided to workout modalities to broaden the PPP by tapping into the strengths of both the sides. It was the first time such a face-to-face meeting between the regulatory authorities and the industry captains in the history of the global summit.

Soliciting ideas and partnerships from the private sector, Pradhan said the government was planning to improve the secondary care by upgrading the district hospitals. "There is a huge scope for partnership with the private sector in the areas like diagnostic services and labs. We will encourage district hospitals to run medical college campuses to augment the capacity in PG education and private players can help in this area," he said.

Welcoming enterprising ideas from private practitioners, Director General of Health Services Dr Jagadish Prasad urged the private sector hospitals to reserve 10 per cent of services free of cost to the poor people under the corporate responsibility and in a bid to make the healthcare accessible.

Chairing the session, Advisor to the Prime Minister T K A Nair wanted both the Government and the private sector players to prepare a roadmap to ensure make accessible affordable drugs and healthcare to the people. He offered to work as link and further frame a mechanism to take the initiative further. MORE