President Pranab Mukherjee today pitched for "health security" to people and said a successful healthcare system should be comprehensive in terms of its quality, availability and affordability.
Addressing a function, Mukherjee emphasised on intensifying efforts for sustainable expansion of healthcare and medical education infrastructure.
Citing the importance of a healthy population, the President said a strong and fit population can more easily be motivated and steered to realise the nation's goals.
"A successful healthcare system should be comprehensive in terms of its quality, availability and affordability," he said during the release of a commemorative postage stamp on Gobind Ballabh Pant Hospital at Rashtrapati Bhavan auditorium.
In India, extending government's health coverage has always been a priority, he said.
"India's triumph in eradicating polio from our population, our success in checking Kala Azar and the fifty per cent decline in malaria are results that give us reason to be proud.
"However, such advanced healthcare is most often at a cost that is beyond the reach of the common people," Mukherjee said.
"While the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana has been efficacious to an extent, development of a more comprehensive facility available for primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare would go a long way in providing greater health security to our people", he said.
The President said public expenditure on health-care in India (at just 1.2 per cent of GDP) is much lower than that in many developed countries.
"Our efforts in expansion of our healthcare and medical education infrastructure must be sustained and intensified," said Mukherjee.
