Jana Sena MP urges Centre to sanction two more AIIMS to A.P. and upgrade the one in Mangalagiri
Jana Sena Party (JSP) Rajya Sabha member Lingamaneni Ramesh on Thursday wrote a letter to Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare J.P. Nadda, requesting
Jana Sena Party (JSP) Rajya Sabha member Lingamaneni Ramesh on Thursday wrote a letter to Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare J.P. Nadda, requesting sanction of two additional All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), one in Rayalaseema and the other in the North coastal districts (Uttarandhra), and upgrade the one in Mangalagiri into a full-fledged national centre of excellence. Ramesh said that the additional AIIMS and transformation of the AIIMS-Mangalagiri would be of great use in meeting the healthcare requirements of the reorganised State of Andhra Pradesh by removing the regional healthcare disparities.
He pointed out that the Government of India had established AIIMS-M under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana after bifurcation of the unified State of Andhra Pradesh, and it rapidly emerged as a premier institution providing quality tertiary healthcare, medical education and research to lakhs of patients from Andhra Pradesh and the neighbouring States. “However, one AIIMS is insufficient for the geographically large State that has nearly five crore population spread across three regions — coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema and Uttarandhra,” Mr. Ramesh said.
“The AIIMS-M primarily serves the central coastal region, and patients from districts in Rayalaseema have to often travel several hundreds of kilometres for advanced medical care. Similarly, people from the north coastal Andhra regions travel outside Visakhapatnam for highly specialised treatment,” he observed. Ramesh said Andhra Pradesh deserved greater Central health infrastructure after reorganisation as bifurcation resulted in considerable institutional redistribution. Under these special circumstances, the Centre had established AIIMS-M as part of the commitments made to the reorganised State.
“However, healthcare demand has increased manifold over the last decade and the State now requires a broader network of premier national institutions to ensure balanced regional development, hence the plea to sanction the two additional AIIMS,” the MP added.
The BriefWire