New AIIMS will boost tertiary care services

Welcoming the Centre's proposal to to build two new AIIMS, medical fraternity today said it would reduce out-of-pocket expenditure by people in the country and provide a "huge boost" to tertiary care services in the public sector.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley while presenting the Union Budget 2017-18 proposed to set up an AIIMS each in Gujarat and Jharkhand.

"AIIMS welcomes the 2017 Union Budget proposals for the health sector, which are aimed at strengthening the primary, secondary and tertiary care clinical facilities, reduce out-of-pocket expenditures, and enable India achieve the sustainable development goals.

"The creation of AIIMS in different parts of the country would provide a huge boost to tertiary care services in public sector," Deputy Director of Administration, AIIMS, V Srinivas said.

Jaitley in his budget speech also said the government has decided to work towards increasing seats for postgraduate medical education by 5,000 per year.

"We will work with the state governments to take these tasks forward. The government is committed to take necessary steps for structural transformation of the regulatory framework of medical education and practice in India," he said.

The budgetary allocation for AIIMS has also been increased to Rs 2,400 crore from Rs 2,043 in the last budget.

For the Centre-run, RML Hospital too the allocation has been hiked to Rs 556.87 crore from Rs 492 in the last budget.

"We welcome the proposal made towards increasing the PG seats. There is a shortage of doctors and we need more quality doctors," Medical Superintendent at RML Hospital, Dr A K Gadpayle said.

Jaitley in his budget speech said, "We need to ensure adequate availability of specialist doctors to strengthen secondary and tertiary levels of healthcare. We have therefore decided to take steps to create additional 5,000 post-graduate seats per annum."

"Poverty is usually associated with poor health. It is the poor who suffer the maximum from various chronic diseases.

Government has therefore prepared an action plan to eliminate kala-azar and filariasis by 2017, leprosy by 2018 and measles by 2020. Elimination of tuberculosis by 2025 is also targeted," he said. .