By IANS,
New Delhi : The union health ministry Thursday made a number of major announcements with the aim of providing quality healthcare to all in the country.
The following are some of the steps –
* Doctors to get more payment for rural postings.
* 10 weightage points for each year of service in rural areas, which will help during admission to post-graduate studies.
* Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Yojna with the focus on care of the newborn.
* Government to make general doctors multi-skilled to meet the shortage of pediatricians and reduce neonatal deaths.
* Organ Transplant Act to become stringent but patient friendly.
* 10 years of jail to medicos, touts for illegal organ trade.
* New medical colleges in metro cities to go vertical instead of horizontal.
* New medical colleges in big cities need just 10 acres of land as against previous provision of 25 acres.
* Public private partnership for upgrading district hospitals to medical colleges will be allowed in northeastern states, hilly states and backward states.
* Spurious drug manufacturer and traders may get life imprisonment and fine of Rs.1 million or three times the value of confiscated drugs, whichever is more.
* 74 new treatment centres have been established for providing HIV treatment taking the total number of such centres to 418.
* Additional 24,000 patients have been put on treatment taking the total to 2.55 lakh against the projected target of 300,000 by 2012.
* Sports injury centre at Safdarjung Hospital with an estimated cost of Rs.70.72 crore.
*Out of the six AIIMS-like institutes, four have got clearance. These are Bhubaneswar, Jodhpur, Patna and Rishikesh.