The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : YSR focuses on quality medicare

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Sunday, Jan 06, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

YSR focuses on quality medicare

Staff Reporter

Kakinada: Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy has called upon doctors, both government and private, to discharge their duties with greater dedication as the ordinance recently promulgated for their protection vested more responsibility on them. As it is people’s money that is being spent on medical graduates and post-graduates, they ought to extend quality medical services to people.

On its part, the government has made higher budgetary allocation to medical infrastructure and started making fresh recruitment of doctors. Besides, government doctors have been allowed to do private practice beyond their duty hours to ensure that they do not join private hospitals for want of better salaries. Thus, the problem of vacancies in government hospitals has been solved to a large extent.

Focus on villages

Addressing participants of the Rangaraya Medical College (RMC) Old Students’ Association -- RAMCOSA Alumni Reunion -- on the college premises here on Saturday, Dr. Reddy said the government was committed to improve the healthcare facilities in rural areas and doctors’ role was crucial. He said the National Rural Health Mission and Rajiv Arogyasri scheme would enable the poor to avail themselves of quality healthcare in corporate hospitals.

It was estimated that Rajiv Arogyasri alone would entail a burden of Rs. 600 crores on the State exchequer next year but the government would not hesitate to bear any amount on it as public health was on top of its agenda.

Under the Rajiv Arogyasri, every district headquarters town would be provided technologically advanced facilities to perform complex surgeries of the heart, kidneys etc. The Chief Minister said the RMC was a dream of people, fulfilled mainly by Mullapudi Harischandra Prasad, Col. D.S. Raju and M.V. Krishna Rao. Collective effort should be made to further develop the institution, he said.

Dr. Reddy presented gold medals to doctors – A.V. Krishnam Raju (present vice-chancellor of NTR University of Health Sciences), T. Narayana Rao, Jagan Kakarala, G. Bhaskar Rao, P. Rambabu, S. Swami Naidu, A. Kishore Kumar, N. Mandava and L. Frivet, all former students of RMC, in recognition of their contribution to the RMC’s development and services to people.

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