IndiaPost.com - No. of hospitals providing quality healthcare not enough: FM

BANGALORE: India is facing "inadequacy" in the number of hospitals providing quality healthcare, Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram said.

"There are not enough hospitals in the country both private and government," Chidambaram said inaugurating the Narayana Nethralaya-II, a super speciality eye hospital in the Narayana Health City on the outskirts. There is "inadequacy" not only in the number of hospitals but also the "quality" of healthcare they provide, he said.

"The condition of district and taluk hospitals and the PHCs (primary health centers) in some of the better governed states is pathetic," Chidambaram said. Though enough money is provided to help them, there are a lot of "leakages".

The government expenditure for healthcare must increase year after year and quality must improve, he said, adding with this in mind, there has been a 34 per cent rise in allocation towards healthcare this year over last year.

Increased public-private participation in healthcare is the need of the hour, he said. "More and more doctors and hospitals must devote 20 to 25 percent of their time to provide healthcare to the public at large," Chidambaram said.

Stressing on consistency in the quality of healthcare both rich and the poor, he called upon medical institutions to provide "same healthcare to those who can pay and those who cannot"