The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : New hospital registration system

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Apr 11, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

New hospital registration system

By Our Staff Reporter

THRISSUR, APRIL 10. The Union Health and Family Welfare Minister, Anbumani Ramdoss, has said that a new registration system for hospitals will be introduced as part of efforts to improve the quality of medical practice in the country.

Under the new system, committees will be set up at the district, State and national levels to monitor the functioning of hospitals. Registration will be granted only to hospitals that meet the standards set by the Government.

The Minister was speaking at the inauguration of the Amala Medical College Hospital here today.

He said that graduate and post-graduate medical courses would be revised within two years. "A national committee is being set up for this. The new curriculum will have a pragmatic approach and focus on the social aspects of medicine.''

Compulsory rural service

The Minister said that rural health care was a priority task. "The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, will launch the National Rural Health Mission next week. Rural service will be made compulsory for medical graduates.''

A comprehensive continuing medical education programme will be drawn up for doctors. "This will be decided in consultation with bodies such as the Indian Medical Association. The facilities at 229 medical colleges will be used for the programme, which will help the 6.5 lakh doctors across the country improve their work and keep abreast of what is happening in their respective fields. The programme will be implemented first for doctors in Government hospitals,'' Dr. Ramdoss said.

The Minister said that national programmes on treatment/prevention of cancer, hearing impairment and hepatitis B, and awareness programmes on AIDS and diabetes would be launched. The Central Government hospitals will soon have an exclusive outpatient counter for senior citizens. The Minister said the reported complaints against polio immunisation were baseless. "The incidence of polio is high in Egypt, Nigeria, Niger, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Among Asian countries, India has the highest number of polio cases: 136. Pakistan and Afghanistan have brought down the number of cases to 45 and 8 respectively. As part of the immunisation policy, 50 districts have been selected in the first phase of the campaign. Uttar Pradesh and Bihar will get the maximum attention,'' Dr. Ramdoss said.

The Minister said that Kerala's achievements in the health sector were comparable to those of a few developed countries. "Nevertheless, the State needs to tackle the increased incidence of cancer and cardio-vascular diseases, and the rising number of suicides.''

The Health Minister. K.K. Ramachandran, presided. Among those present on the occasion were the MLAs, T. V. Chandramohan and M.K. Paulson; the district panchayat president, N.K. Subramanian; the Archbishop, Mar Jacob Thoomkuzhi; and the Collector, K.S. Premachandra Kurup.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh