Family medicine must be encouraged, says Dr Raghu Ram

Dr Raghu Ram said UK’s NHS model of providing universal primary healthcare through public-private partnership could be appropriate for adaptation in the Indian context

Hyderabad: Noted breast cancer specialist and Director of KIMS-Ushalakshmi Centre for Breast Diseases, Dr P Raghu Ram on Thursday highlighted the need to have a robust system of family medicine that will be delivered by General Practitioners (GPs) in the Indian healthcare system.

General Practitioners must be gatekeepers of healthcare system and be the first point of contact for patients for any sickness or preventive visit. India must invest in training GPs in addition to popularizing and sensitizing young MBBS students about the family medicine, he said in a meeting on health sector with Governor, Dr. Tamilisai Soundarajan on Thursday.

“The concept of family doctor was ubiquitous but today it has become extinct. India has about 8,00,000 medical doctors of which about 6,00,000 are GPs. But more than 75 per cent of these GPs are in urban centers which make up only about 30 per cent of India’s population. The ratio of GPs to patients in rural areas is about 1 GP for every 7500 patients on average and as low as 1 for every 25,000 people in more remote areas,” he said.

Dr Raghu Ram said UK’s National Health Service (NHS) model of providing universal primary healthcare through public-private partnership (PPP) could be appropriate for adaptation in the Indian context.