PM-JAY is here to stay; industry must reposition to align with it, says Dr VK Paul

New Delhi [India], October 20 (ANI): Dr VK Paul, Member (Health) of NITI Aayog on Wednesday said that the PM-JAY (Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana) has started to absorb other government schemes and expanding its scope on the initiatives of the state governments.
Dr VK Paul said, "The central government is also willing to increase its ambit. PM-JAY is here to stay, and it is the main vehicle for secondary and tertiary care and therefore we have to reposition ourselves to align with this."
Addressing the inaugural session of 'FICCI HEAL 2021', organized jointly with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India and NITI Aayog. Dr Paul stated that the government will continue to refine PMJAY and all those who are not yet part of it should partner with it. "We must work to include the remaining hospitals into the PMJAY paradigm. We have to work on the high volume and modest return model in this," he added.

Dr Paul further stated that the area of critical medicine and extension in emergency medicine has to be leveraged by the nation. "On the public health side this is a weak area, and we need your (industry) help to strengthen the critical care of the nation. The PM Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana also talks about critical care infrastructure augmentation and it's a spontaneous area where we can work together. There is a need for building a National Network of Excellent Emergency and Trauma System which has an element of transfer ambulances part of intra-ambulance care," he noted.

Dr Paul also shared that state governments are planning to increase their budgets on healthcare from the current 4-4.5 per cent to almost 8 per cent, which should help in getting the requisite focus on enhancing the healthcare status. He also urged the private sector to provide suggestions on the budget for next year as well as give ideas on how to utilise and strengthen the AYUSH or traditional medicine sector of the country.

Speaking on the health infrastructure, Dr Paul said that we must also look at the opportunity of converting more district hospitals into medical colleges to help augment our human resources. He also urged the private sector to increase focus on DNB education for enhancing the specialist doctors in the country. "A large volume of beds is not being used for education. Every bed has to be used and the pathway is the DNB program," he added. (ANI)