Centre committed to improving health infrastructure in northeast: Health minister

The Centre is committed to improving the health infrastructure in the northeast and providing quality healthcare services to the people of the region, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Saturday.

New Delhi: The Centre is committed to improving the health infrastructure in the northeast and providing quality healthcare services to the people of the region, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Saturday.

Mandaviya inaugurated a new regional cancer centre, an under-graduate medical college, a new building for the nursing college, hostels, eight modular operation theatres, a virtual autopsy facility and a new guesthouse at the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) in Shillong, Meghalaya on Saturday.

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He also laid the foundation stone for a 150-bed critical care block at the institute, the health ministry said in a statement.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Mandaviya said, “The new facilities at the NEIGRIHMS will provide much-needed healthcare services to the people of the northeast region. The central government is committed to improving the health infrastructure in the northeast region and to providing quality healthcare services to the people of the region.” The health minister also said the new facilities at the NEIGRIHMS will help attract and retain medical professionals in the northeast, according to the statement.

Appreciating the work culture and cleanliness in the NEIGRIHMS, he said the government is committed to further developing the infrastructure at the institute, so that it continues to remain a hub for medical treatment, research and training of healthcare and allied healthcare professionals for the northeast.

Mandaviya said the Centre has adopted a holistic approach towards the health sector.

“We are not only creating new and advanced medical infrastructure, we are also increasing the number of doctors and nursing stuff. In the last nine years, the number of medical colleges has doubled in the country,” he said, adding that 1.7 lakh health and wellness centres have also come up in India.

“We are also building one critical care unit in every district in the country,” the health minister said.