Private sector must ensure Affordable treatment, Focus on rural areas : Vice President

Expressing concern over the prematurity and low birth weight, pneumonia and diarrheal diseases, among others, were main causes of child mortality in India, he stressed the need to step up the efforts in a concerted manner to meet the Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDGs).

The Vice President said that participation and cooperation of both Public and Private Sector is essential to improve the preventive and treatment interventions for newborns and those below five years to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal target of reducing under-five mortality to 25 per 1,000 live births by 2030.

The Vice President called upon the private sector to partner with the government in making healthcare affordable as well as accessible to the common man, particularly in the rural and remote parts of the country. The private sector should not concentrate on urban areas alone and must set up healthcare facilities in the rural areas as part of its CSR activities, he added.

Shri Naidu said that the minuscule penetration of health insurance at the individual level was a major reason for the increase in the out-of-pocket expenditure borne by the households and stressed the need to vastly expand the health insurance coverage of the population in the country.

The Governor of Tamil Nadu, Shri Banwarilal Purohit, the Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Tamil Nadu, Shri C. Vijayabhaskar, the Minister for Fisheries and Fishery Development, Tamil Nadu, Shri D. Jayakumar, the Member of Parliament, Dr J. Jayavardhan and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.