The Andhra Pradesh Medical and Health Department is considering the proposal to work with the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) for mutual cooperation in the field of medical education and health, according to Principal Secretary (Health) M.T. Krishna Babu.
Addressing the valedictory of the three-day Global Health Summit (GHS) organised by the AAPI here on Sunday, Mr. Krishna Babu said the State government was in favour of easing restrictions to enable Indian doctors working abroad have access to the facilities at the government medical colleges and hospitals in the State and in provision of medical infrastructure.
He elaborated on the measures being taken by the government for improving infrastructure and augmentation of manpower in the government hospitals.
“Technology is being used in a big way to collect data of patients,” he said, and hoped it would be meaningfully used to effectively deal with various health problems.
The government would also set up disease-specific Centres of Excellence, particularly for Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs), and comprehensive cancer care centres.
The cancer centres would be set up at KGH in Visakhapatnam, and at government hospitals in Vijayawada, Tirupathi, Kurnool in the first phase.
A 200-bed kidney research centre established at Palasa in Srikakulam district would start functioning from March, he said.
Explaining about the Family Physician programme that was launched recently, Mr. Krishna Babu said it was yielding good results. “It will foster doctor-patient relationship. An app has been launched to capture the data of the patient, and the doctor will know the medical history of the patient even before he / she visits the patient’s home,” he said.
The global disease burden shifted from Communicable Diseases (CDs) to NCD s. While the total number of deaths due to COVID-19 was estimated at 0.53 million, NCDs were causing 6.1 million deaths across the globe every year, he said.
He also elaborated on the priority given by the State government to augmentation of infrastructure in government hospitals, recruitment of doctors, nurses and para-medical staff.
Dr. T. Ravi Raju Excellence Award for 2023 was given to Dr. Prasad Chalasani.
GHS Chair India Dr. T. Ravi Raju, AAPI president Ravi Kolli, and Dr. Prasad Chalasani were on the dais.
