Medical facilities not reaching urban poor: Ghulam Nabi Azad

NEW DELHI - Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Wednesday said that despite urbanisation, the medical facilities are still not reaching the poor people residing in the urban areas.

“While we are still grappling with the problem of communicable diseases, non-communicable diseases have already started taking a great toll,” said Azad at a function at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here on the ‘World Health Day’.

“These (hospitals and treatment) are not reaching urban poor. While urbanisation has created better opportunities for employment, greater access to education and social services, improved housing and living conditions and higher socio-economic development, it has also brought a number of problems that impact health,” he added.

Azad further said the country is facing shortage of health infrastructure, asserting that the solution to these problems lies in participation at the community level.

He noted that regulations need to be implemented more strictly in the health sector.

The theme of 2010 “World Health Day’ was ‘Urbanisation and Healthcare’. (ANI)