Mumbai,8 July:In an attempt to spread cheap health care in rural areas, President Pratibha Patil has asked the medical community to evolve methods to ensure that it was made available easily in villages.
"I would call on all medical institutions and doctors to see how they can serve rural communities. About 75 per cent of our medical facilities are located in urban centres," Patil said while inaugurating the Fertility centre at the D Y Patil University in Navi Mumbai.
The President said a dialogue should be initiated between Medical Council of India and medical colleges to find ways to upgrade the existing regulations so that the medical institutes function better.
Patil said that medical facilities are often limited for 70 per cent of the nation’s population which resided in rural areas.
Despite colleges churning out 31,000 medical graduates a year, the doctor to patient ratio in the country, particularly in rural India, is very poor in comparison to global standards, the President said.
"The students can also help in the creation of health workers in the villages by giving them training on basic medical skills and first aid treatment," the President said.
The medical system also needed to keep pace with advances in bio-medical sciences and should incorporate the latest diagnostic and therapeutic technologies, Patil said.
To allow students to understand the importance of community health, particularly in rural areas, medical colleges should send them to villages during their internship for training, Patil said.
"The curriculum for medical colleges should be constantly reviewed to take into account these changes," Patil said, adding that research should be encouraged in institutions of higher learning in the country.
"Fields such as nanotechnology, stem cells and artificial intelligence hold great potential for liberating human suffering. It is also important that health care professionals continue to maintain and develop their knowledge and skills," she said.
Number of medical schools should be increased, but without compromising on the quality, Patil said.
"The growth of institutions has to be regulated in such a manner that the best education is available to medical students, hence the parameters for establishing institutions must be clearly defined," Patil said.
Talking about the educational system in the country, the President said, youths should be equipped with world class knowledge and skills to sustain growth and manage technological revolutions in sectors including agriculture, communication, transport and energy.
The private sector could supplement the efforts of the government in providing quality education, Patil said.Courtsey : DD NEWS