The government on Friday said treatment for heart, kidney and bone diseases is provided free of cost to all persons below poverty line (BPL) and at subsidised rates to others in government hospitals.
Replying to a supplementary in the Lok Sabha during Question Hour, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said the government was making efforts to meet requirements as patients from all over the country come to Delhi for such treatments.
“We have started a two-pronged strategy - increasing the number of specialist and super-specialist doctors, and creating infrastructure,” he said.
“We are trying to upgrade both human resources and infrastructure simultaneously. This year 4,000 additional specialists and super specialists would be added,” he said adding that out of 8 proposed AIIMS-like institutions, six would be ready within next two years.
This would reduce burden on Delhi’s hospitals, he said.
The government has approved establishment of 8 AIIMS-like institutions with super-speciality facilities in Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Uttarkhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
On whether there was a proposal to equip hospitals with newly-developed Nano-sensor technology, Mr. Azad said, “There is no proposal with the Ministry to equip hospitals with Nano-sensor devices for diagnosis of heart diseases.”
