PM says, Healthcare a priority

By Our Special Correspondent

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that for the last eight years, holistic health care has been given priority in the country and more efforts have been made in this field than in the last seven decades.

Modi said this after inaugurating the 300-bed Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Center at Mullanpur, Mohali, on the outskirts of Chandigarh. Tata Memorial Centre, a subsidiary of the Union Department of Atomic Energy, has invested Rs. The facility was built at a cost of 660 crores.

Speaking on the occasion, Modi emphasized that prevention is better than cure and good healthcare is not just about building four walls. Holistic health care has been given priority in the last eight years, the Prime Minister said.

He said that before 2014, there were less than 400 medical colleges in the country, but in the last eight years, 200 new colleges have been started. He claimed that more work has been done in health care in seven or eight years than in 70 years.

Addressing cancer patients and their families, Modi said, "We don't need to fear cancer but we have to fight it. It is treatable and I know many people who have beaten cancer and lead normal lives."

He said that the central government is making available everything needed for this struggle. In Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh, AIIMS has been built and a large facility for cancer treatment is now available here, he said, adding that these facilities would help ease the burden on PGIMER.

He said that more than 1.50 lakh health and wellness centers are being set up in the country, of which 1.25 lakh centers have already started functioning. He said that nearly 3,000 health and wellness centers are providing services in Punjab as well.