Tag Archives: Health and Family Welfare

Update on MBBS & PG seats in Indian Medical Colleges

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The update shows that there is 67% increase in Medical Colleges from 387 to 648 or 87% increase in MBBS seats from 51,348 to 96,077 and 105% increase in PG seats from 31,185 to 64,059. Currently, there are 22 AIIMS approved with 19 AIIMS of them having undergraduate courses.

A total of 96,077 MBBS seats are available in the country out of which 51,712 in Government Medical Colleges and 44365 in Private Medical Colleges. There are 49,790 PG seats of National Medical Commission (NMC) available in the country, out of which 30,384 in Government Medical Colleges and 19,406 in Private Medical Colleges.

There are also 12,648 Diplomate of National Board (DNB) / Fellowship of National Board (FNB) PG seats out of which 4185 in Government institutions and 8463 in Private institutions. In addition, 1621 PG seats are in College of Physicians and Surgeons (CPS), said a statement.

There is an increase of 67% in Medical Colleges from 387 before 2014 to 648 as of now. Further, there is an increase of 87% in MBBS seats from 51,348 before 2014 to 96,077 as of now and increase of 105% in PG seats from 31,185 before 2014 to 64,059 as of now. The measures/steps taken by the Government to increase the opportunities for medical studies and expansion of medical education in the Country include: –

  1. Central Sector Scheme for establishment of new medical college by upgrading district/ referral hospital under which 94 new medical colleges are already functional out of 157 approved.
  2. Central Sector Scheme for strengthening/ upgradation of existing State Government/Central Government Medical Colleges to increase MBBS and PG seats.
  3. Central Sector Scheme for “Upgradation of Government Medical Colleges by construction of Super Specialty Blocks”. A total of 60 projects are complete out of 75 approved.
  4. Under the Central Sector Scheme for setting up of new AIIMS, 22 AIIMS have been approved. Undergraduate courses have started in 19 of these.
  5. Relaxation in the norms for setting up of Medical College in terms of requirement for faculty, staff, bed strength and other infrastructure.
  6. DNB qualification has been recognized for appointment as faculty to take care of shortage of faculty.
  7. Enhancement of age limit for appointment/ extension/ re-employment against posts of teachers/Dean/Principal/ Director in medical colleges upto 70 years.

As per information received from the State Government of Madhya Pradesh, the State in order to promote education in regional languages has taken a decision to impart medical education in Hindi as a pilot project.

The Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar stated this in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

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Life Style Diseases

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Obesity in Children on Rise

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Junk Food is a term used for food containing high levels of calories from sugar or fat with little fiber, protein, vitamins or minerals. These foods lead to a rapid increase in blood sugar levels (high glycemic index) which forces the body to produce high levels of insulin to counter the rising blood sugar.

As reported by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), development of obesity is multi-factorial and eating of junk and processed food is one of them. Childhood obesity is a risk factor of developing heart diseases and diabetes in later life.

The results available from 15 States/UTs of an ongoing ICMR India Diabetes (ICMR-INDIAB) Study on the prevalence of diabetes indicate overall prevalence of Diabetes varying from 4% to 13%. According to the Report of National Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, there were 641 lakh cases of Cardiovascular Diseases (CVDs) in India in the year 2015.

Ministry of Women and Child Development had constituted a Working Group on addressing consumption of foods High in Fat, Salt and Sugar (HFSS) and promotion of healthy snacks in schools of India, which has given its report.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) constituted an Expert Group on Salt, Sugar and Fat. The Expert Group prepared a draft report on consumption of these items and its health impacts among Indian population and recommendations on healthy dietary intake of these items. While preparing the above report, Expert Group has considered WHO guidelines on ‘Sugar Intake for Adults and Children regarding the adverse impact of high sugar in foods.

ICMR, National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) and other institutions carry out research and studies related to food and healthy diet. Apart from this, the consumers are made aware of food safety through consumer awareness programmes launched jointly by the Department of Consumer Affairs and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) which also includes advertisements in different media, campaigns, educational booklets, information on FSSAI website and Mass awareness campaigns.

The Minister of State (Health and Family Welfare), Smt Anupriya Patel stated this in a written reply in the Lok Sabha here today.

Increasing Public Expenditure on Healthcare

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The Twelfth Five Year Plan projected to increase total public fund, plan and non-plan on core health to 1.87 per cent of GDP by the end of Twelfth Plan. The National Health Policy, 2017 envisages increasing public expenditure on health to 2.5% of GDP in a time bound manner by 2025.

As per WHO Global Health Expenditure database 2014, the expenditure on healthcare for BRICS is China (3%), the Russian Federation (4%), Brazil (4%) and South Africa (4%) of Gross Domestic Product. The Government spending on healthcare in India as a percentage of GDP has increased from 1.16% in 2004-05 (Actual) to 1.4% in 2016-17 (BE) as per Economic Survey.

The allocation of funds for health sector is based inter-alia, on the availability of resources and competing claims on these resources. An increase in economic growth makes available increased resources for funding the health sector. In addition to this, availability of overall resources, past utilization, requirements and absorptive capacity inter-alia guide the allocations to the health sector.

The Minister of State (Health and Family Welfare), Smt Anupriya Patel stated this in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha here today.

Healthcard for Cancer Treatment

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Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), a centrally sponsored scheme, provides health insurance coverage to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families and including other 11 categories of Unorganized Workers (UOWs) who are enrolled under the scheme.

Senior Citizen Health Insurance Scheme (SCHIS) is also implemented w.e.f. 01.04.2016. Under this, health coverage is available for Rs.30,000/- per annum per senior citizen for treatment packages, over and above RSBY entitlement.

Each family enrolled in the scheme is entitled for hospitalization benefits in Government empanelled hospitals (including both private and public). RSBY and SCHIS cover oncology treatment within prescribed benefits ceiling.

Under comprehensive Primary Healthcare, operational guidelines for Prevention, Screening and Control of Common Non-Communicable Diseases: Hypertension, Diabetes and Common Cancers (Oral, Breast, Cervix) have been issued under National Health Mission which envisage preparation of Health Cards for individuals above 30 years of age. These Cards primarily will be health records of individuals listing health issues/diseases/disabilities and exposures to risk factors of common NCDs including cancer.

The Minister of State (Health and Family Welfare), Smt Anupriya Patel stated this in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha here today.

Free Treatment for Rare Genetic Diseases

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The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has formulated a National Policy for treatment of Rare Diseases in India to progressively build India’s capacity to respond comprehensively to rare diseases covering areas of: prevention, awareness generation, training of doctors, funding support for treatment on the parameters to be defined by a Central Technical cum Administrative Committee, promotion of research and development for drugs for treatment of rare diseases and diagnostics at affordable prices and measures for making the drugs for rare diseases more affordable, strengthening of laboratory networks, development of Centres of Excellence etc. On the whole, the Policy seeks to strike a balance between the interest of patients of Rare Diseases and health system sustainability. The Policy also recognizes and delineates the role of various Ministries and departments in the area of Rare Diseases.

Funding mechanism as given in the National Policy for treatment of Rare Diseases in India is as under:

• Setting up a corpus fund at Central level with the initial amount of Rs. 100 crore towards funding treatment of rare genetic diseases.

• Similar corpus at State level and contribution of funds by the Centre towards the state corpus to the ratio of 60:40 out of the central pool.

• It is up to the States to have a corpus of a larger amount. Requirement of funds by States is as per PIP process.

The Minister of State (Health and Family Welfare), Smt Anupriya Patel stated this in a written reply in the Lok Sabha here today.

Electronic Health Records

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A scheme to set up an ‘Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP) to create the Electronic Health Records (EHRs) of citizens and to be made available nationwide online for medical history, with the help of Health Information Exchange(s), has been approved and is being implemented.

MoHFW has notified Electronic Health Record (EHR) Standards Version 2016 for India in December 2016 (whilst the earlier version of EHR Standards was notified in September 2013) with the intent to bring standardisation and homogeneity, inter-operability in capture, storage, transmission, use etc. of healthcare information across various health IT systems.

State/UTs have been advised and are already working on computerisation and implementation of hospital information system (for creation electronic records) in their hospitals/health facility with support under National Health Mission.

With the advent of the envisaged system of EHRs of citizens in an inter-operable manner pan-nation, online availability and accessibility would be ensured facilitating continuity of care, better affordability, better health outcome and better decision support system. This is expected to help in reducing expenditure on avoidable repetitive and similar diagnostic tests.

The Minister of State (Health and Family Welfare), Smt Anupriya Patel stated this in a written reply in the Lok Sabha here today.

Increase in Costs of Healthcare Services

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As per the Publication titled “Health in India – NSS 71st Round” (January-June 2014) brought out by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), the average total medical and other related non-medical expenditure per hospitalisation in rural and urban areas are Rs.16,956/- and Rs.26,455/- respectively and average total medical expenditure for non-hospitalized treatment per ailing person in rural and urban areas are Rs.509/- and Rs.639/- respectively. While as per the estimates published in “Morbidity and Healthcare and the condition of the aged” (60th Round January-June, 2004) the average medical expenditure incurred per hospitalised case in rural and urban areas were Rs.5,695/- and Rs.8,851/- respectively and the Average medical expenditure for non-hospitalised treatment per ailing person in rural and urban areas were Rs. 257/- and Rs.306/- respectively.

As per the National Health Accounts estimates for India, 2013-14, the out of pocket expenditure is 64.2% of total health expenditure.

Public health and hospitals being a State subject, the primary responsibility of providing accessible, affordable and quality healthcare lies with respective State Governments.

Under National Health Mission to reduce out of pocket expenditure on healthcare, support is being provided to States/UTs for strengthening of their healthcare system based on the requirements posed by them in their Programme Implementation Plans.

In order to provide affordable health care services to the people of the country, especially the poor, the Government of India has taken several steps which inter-alia includes:

· Implementation of National Health Mission Free Drugs and Free Diagnostic initiative to provide essential drugs and diagnostics free of cost in public health facilities.
· Implementation of Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakaram (JSSK), Rashtriya Bal SwasthyaKaryakaram (RBSK), RashtriyaKishorSwasthyaKaryakaram (RKSK) and implementation of other Nationalprogrammeslike Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP), National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP), National Leprosy Eradication Programme(NLEP), National AIDS Control Programme (NACP) etc. where free treatment is provided to patients of Tuberculosis(TB), HIV/AIDS, Vector Borne, Leprosy diseases etc.
· Decision to transform Sub-Health Centres/PHCsto Health and Wellness Centres to provide comprehensive primary care, to undertake promotive and health promotion activities.
· Screening and Management of 5 common NCDs of hypertension, diabetes, and cancers of oral, cervix and breast.
· Pradhan Mantri National Dialysis Programme for free dialysis services to the poor in district hospitals.
· Making available tertiary health care services in the public sector through strengthening of hospitals, establishment of AIIMS institutions in the States and up-gradation of existing Government medical colleges across the country.
· Making available quality generic medicines at affordable prices to all, under ‘Jan Aushadhi Scheme’, in collaboration with the State Governments.
· RashtriyaSwasthyaBimaYojana (RSBY) which provides for smart card based cashless health insurance on family floater basis.

The National Health Policy, 2017 provides for increasing public expenditure on health to 2.5% of GDP in a time bound manner by 2025.
The Minister of State (Health and Family Welfare), Smt Anupriya Patel stated this in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha here today.