VP Venkaiah Naidu calls for renewed focus on rural health care

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Monday said a renewed focus on rural health care is needed, adding more needs to be done to ensure health security to India's vast population.

Naidu cautioned that the quality of healthcare being delivered cannot be determined by the price being paid.

He was delivering the 13th Convocation address of Pravara Institute of Medical Sciences, a deemed university, at Loni in Ahmednagar district.

Naidu also suggested a mandatory rural service of three years for doctors before their first promotion.

He congratulated the 437 graduates who were presented degrees at the convocation and expressed delight that a large number of graduates who won awards and medals for excellence were women. "There is no tool for development more effective than women empowerment," he said.

Opining that the youth of India would determine its future, the Vice President quoted United Nations Population Funds report which said the window of demographic dividend opportunity in India would be available for five decades from 2005-06 to 2055-56, longer than any other country.

"The working age group 15-59 years accounts for 62.5 per cent of Indias population. This immense advantage can create the space needed to increase investments in enhancing human capabilities, which, in turn, can have a positive influence on growth and development in the time to come," he said.

Naidu said urban areas had four times as many medical practitioners compared to rural areas. This rural-urban divide had to be addressed on war footing, he added. 

The Ram Rajya cannot be achieved without attaining Gram Rajya, he said.

Expressing concern over the rising costs of providing medical services, Naidu said the integration of technological innovation with healthcare delivery will certainly help in lower healthcare delivery costs.