Bangalore, Feb 1: Apollo Hospitals Chairman Prathap C Reddy today said the government was yet to bestow full attention on increasing human resources in health sector in the country.

Addressing the press to announce the formal inauguration of Apollo Hospital, Bengaluru The International Hospital by President Prathibha Devisingh Patil here tomorrow, he said following global recession there were talks about hardships faced by Information Technology sector and pumping funds for its survival. But nobody thought on the need to improve healthcare available in the country.

"As the country wants to become leader in the world, it is also important to achieve self-sufficiency in medical care," he added.

Speaking on the need to encourage Medical Tourism , he said there was a time when patients from India were going abroad for treatment.

But with advancements in the field of healthcare, the country had started attracting patients from foreign countries not only for its cost effectiveness but also improvement in quality of treatment by expert doctors and hospitals with modern equipment. Dr Reddy said the country can attract investment to the tune of Rs 75,000 crore in health sector and create 2.9 million additional jobs, provided medical sector was encouraged properly.

The Apollo Hospital proposes to set up 250 Centres of Excellence in districts and villages. Already, 21 sites had been identified and in the first phase, 25 centres would be set up.

To a question, Dr Reddy said the Public-Private Participation (PPP) model by the government should act as facilitator and be based on a sustainable growth model.

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Source: Mangalorean.com