Growth in private healthcare sector static: Niti Aayog

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NITI Aayog member-health, V K Paul has said the private health space has seen only a static growth at a time when the health infrastructure needs to be ramped up in the country. He also said that schemes like Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission are a game changer and asked the private hospitals to join the programme. The Prime Minister Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) would increase its ambit.

Healthcare budget

During the pandemic, Paul said that private sector hospitals played a critical role across the nation, even though the public sector also played its part. He also praised the work of the private sector employees.

He also asked the private sector to visualise the next six or nine months for improving the healthcare infrastructure of the country.

India has one hospital bed per 1,000 people, which has to be increased to at least two bed per 1,000 people, Paul said.

He also said that state governments have to increase their spend on healthcare to almost 8% from the present 4 to 4.5% of the budget.

The NITI Aayog member said that through the public-private partnership mode was seeking inputs from the private sector on converting district hospitals into medical colleges. Six hospitals in Uttar Pradesh are part of this option.