SHILLONG, Oct 15: The number of medical colleges in the
country has doubled in the past nine years, and the
government is coming up with one critical care unit in every
district in the nation, Union minister Mansukh Mandaviya
said.
Inaugurating a regional cancer centre at the North Eastern
Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical
Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) here on Saturday, he said the number
of MBBS seats in the country increased from 50,000 in 2014
to 1,07,000 now.
The Union health and family welfare minister also
inaugurated a new undergraduate medical college, a new
building of a nursing college, eight modular operation
theatres and other facilities.
“In the last nine years, the number of medical colleges has
doubled in the country. A total of 1,70,000 Health and
Wellness Centres have been created across India. We are
also building one critical care unit in every district in the
country,” he said, while addressing a gathering.
He also laid the foundation stone for a 150-bed critical care
block at NEIGRIHMS.
“The new facilities at NEIGRIHMS will provide much-needed
healthcare services to the people of the northeast. The
central government is committed to improve the health
infrastructure in the region,” he said.
“It is our plan to develop NEIGRIHMS as an institute of
national importance,” Mandaviya said.
While other countries follow a three-layered health system,
India boasts of its four-tier mechanism – ASHA, primary,
secondary and tertiary services, he added. (PTI)
