Kerala will have its All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS)-like institution as soon as the State government identifies land for setting up the institution, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has said.
Addressing a press conference here on Friday, Dr. Vardhan said it should be a location easily accessible to all and the Centre would initiate other formalities as soon as a proper location was identified.
The Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) here had the potential to be developed as a national cancer institute and the Ministry would work on the State’s request for the same as well as the other requests that had been put forth, he said.
Dr. Vardhan said the country now needed out-of-the-box solutions for many of the health problems. “We now need to move ahead and introduce new inputs into our planning and implementation of programmes. In the health sector, there cannot be a single model which will serve the people effectively and we are not averse to promoting public-private partnership models in various forms,’’ he said.
The government was in the process of formulating a National Health Assurance Mission with a provision for tertiary care service through universal health insurance and a set of assured health packages. Within the next fortnight, the Ministry would conduct a brain-storming session for Health Secretaries of all States in New Delhi to share the details on what was evolving. This would be followed by a meeting of Health Ministers to evolve a consensus, he said.
Physical inactivity was a leading cause of major lifestyle diseases. The government wanted more playgrounds for children; sports, yoga and meditation centres; and walkers’ clubs to promote the culture of physical activity, the Union Minister said.
He said he was saddened to see so many patients at the RCC, especially women, and said that it was time to launch a war against cancer in the country.
