The government’s attempt is to ensure affordable, accessible, and quality health care for all persons in the State, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said.
Inaugurating the 75th year celebrations of Government Medical College Hospital (MCH), Thiruvananthapuram, he said the government's focus was on developing the healthcare institutions in the State as Centres of Excellence and the State as a hub of quality medical care delivery.
Preventive medicine, morbidity reduction as well as modern curative care modalities were being given equal attention. Public healthcare delivery will be free on one hand while on the other, adequate social insurance protection by way of Karunya Arogya Suraksha Padhati and Medisep has also been ensured. The government is going ahead with various developmental plans, with focus on the State’s health care requirements for the next 25 years.
Health research was a key area where the State would be investing and the Institute of Advanced Virology, Life Sciences Park, and Medical Devices Park were all endeavours in that direction.
Mr. Vijayan said that one of the biggest achievements of the government was the strengthening of the public health system for better primary care service delivery. The primary health centres in the State are now family health centres, delivering a host of services, including non-communicable diseases follow-up and disease screening. The footfall in public sector hospitals, which used to be 26 % in 1996, has now grown to 60%, he claimed.
The State’s health sector was one area which had benefited immensely from the decentralisation exercise and local self government bodies were in charge of the health care institutions from PHCs till district hospitals
Health Minister Veena George presided. The alumni of MCH, many of whom have come from various parts of the globe to participate in the celebrations, were honoured by the Chief Minister. A three-day medical convention is also being organised in connection with the event. The celebrations are being led by the Trivandrum Medical College Alumni Association.
