Make healthcare affordable, CM tells doctors

MYSURU Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday called upon doctors and government medical college

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday called upon doctors and government medical colleges to work towards developing an “affordable healthcare model”, producing inexpensive drugs and providing affordable treatment as many people, especially those in rural areas, were unable to access medical care owing to overpriced drugs and interventions. The need of the hour was developing drugs and treatments that could be easily accessed by the poor, he said, while asking medical professionals to take up the challenge of making healthcare within the means.

Mr. Bommai said he would allocate funds in the coming budget for setting up an R&D Centre at the Mysore Medical College and Research Institute (MMCRI) – Karnataka’s first medical college which is celebrating its centenary in 2024. The State’s top 10-15 medical colleges could also take up research for making affordable drugs and providing affordable treatment, he suggested.

Speaking after inaugurating new facilities of MMCRI, ‘10BedICUs’ initiative in 41 government hospitals in Karnataka and TeleICU hub at K.R. Hospital here, Mr. Bommai said medical students, after passing out, must consider working in government hospitals for at least two years. There was shortage of doctors despite so many students passing out from our medical colleges. “You get difficult cases only in government hospitals and such cases help you hone your skills. If you serve in a government hospital, you can handle any complicated case in a private hospital,” Mr. Bommai told the students.

The Chief Minister asked Minister for Medical Education and Health K. Sudhakar, who was present, on whether the vow of ‘serving the poor’ could be included in the Hippocratic oath which would ease doctors’ scarcity; it was a noble profession for which there was no alternative.

The Chief Minister said new facilities such as lecture halls, library, hostels and examination halls of MMCRI that were inaugurated were developed at a cost of ₹100 crore. A sum of ₹89 crore had been released for the renovation of MMCRI’s hospitals. “After all these works, I want to see a blend of heritage and modern medical institutions in MMCRI,” he suggested.

R&D centre

The Chief Minister also told Dr. Sudhakar to take steps for setting up the first R&D centre at MMCRI, which was on the threshold of its centenary, and promised to allocate any sum for making it happen. “You can even bring the best talents from outside. Our dependency on multinational companies for drugs and equipment can be reduced to some extent if all our medical colleges carry out extensive research towards making healthcare affordable,” he felt.