Mohali: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said holistic health care has been a priority in the country for the past eight years and more work has been done in this field than the last seven decades.
Modi said this after inaugurating the 300-bed Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre at Mohali’s Mullanpur on the outskirts of Chandigarh.
The facility has been built at a cost of over Rs 660 crore by Tata Memorial Centre, an aided institute under the Union Department of Atomic Energy.
Addressing the gathering, Modi stressed that prevention is better than cure and good healthcare does not mean building four walls only. In the past eight years, holistic healthcare has been given a priority, the prime minister said.
He said before 2014, there were less than 400 medical colleges in the country and in the past eight years 200 new colleges have been opened.
More work has been done in healthcare in seven or eight years than over 70 years, he claimed.
Reaching out to cancer patients and their families, Modi said, “We don’t need to be scared of cancer, but we have to fight it, its treatment is possible and I know many people who have defeated cancer and are living normal lives”.
Whatever is needed for this fight, the Union government is making available, he said.
In Himachal Pradesh’s Bilaspur, an AIIMS has been built and over here a big facility for cancer treatment is available now, he said, adding these facilities will help take load off the PGIMER.
Modi said for a long time, there has been an aspiration in the country for a healthcare system, which cares for the poor, saves them from illness and provides affordable treatment.
Over 1.50 lakh health and wellness centres are being set up in the country, of which 1.25 lakh have already started functioning, he said.
In Punjab too, nearly 3,000 health and wellness centres are providing services, he said.
Referring to the pledge to make India a developed nation in 25 years, Modi said for this the healthcare system also needs to be developed.
When people get modern hospitals and facilities, they will become more healthy, he said.
“Our focus is on six aspects, including promoting preventive health care, opening small and modern hospitals in villages, establishing medical colleges and research centres in cities, increasing the number of doctors and paramedical staff and providing medicines at affordable rates and introducing new technologies,” he said.
Modi said a few days ago a report said due to the Centre’s Jal Jeevan Mission, there has been a great reduction in water-borne diseases.
Modi touched upon various initiatives of his government, including the Fit India campaign, which he said is becoming popular among the youth.
Acknowledging the fact that cancer patients also bear the psychological burden of the disease, Modi said society as a whole and doctors treating them should bear this in mind.
With collective efforts, we will make our fight against cancer stronger, he said.
As detection of diseases is the key, Modi said the Centre is working on having at least one medical college in every district in the country.
Under the Ayushman Bharat health infrastructure mission, the government is spending Rs 64,000 crore on making modern health facilities at the district-level, he said.
At one time, there used to be seven AIIMS in the country, which have now increased to 21, including the one set up in Bathinda, he said.
More than 5 lakh Ayush doctors have been given recognition on a par with allopathic doctors, he said.
A lot of stress has been given on affordable treatment and medicines, he said.
Under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, 3.5 crore patients have availed treatment and did not spend a single rupee, he said. Had this scheme not been there, the poor and people from common families would have had to pay nearly Rs 40,000 crore from their pockets collectively, he said.
Modi said over 500 cancer drugs are being provided at cheap rates at Jan Aushadhi centres, thus helping save nearly Rs 1,000 crores of patients.
He said 5G telecom services are being launched in the country, which will bring revolutionary changes in health care.
Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre is a 300-bed facility equipped with facilities such as MRI, mammography, digital radiography and brachytherapy to treat all types of cancer using available treatment modalities like surgery, chemotherapy, immunotherapy and bone marrow transplant.
The hospital will act as a tertiary care centre to patients not only from Punjab but also from Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was also present when Modi inaugurated the hospital.
Punjab Governor B L Purohit, Union Minister Jitendra Singh, Congress MP from Anandpur Sahib Manish Tewari were among others present on the occasion.
Earlier in the day, the PM inaugurated a state-of-the-art 2,600-bed Amrita Hospital in Haryana’s Faridabad.
