Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh stressed the importance of public-private partnerships in health sector to cope up with the increasing demands on healthcare. He added that public sector can’t cope up with the healthcare requirement of huge country like India.

While inaugurating the first of Apollo’s Reach Hospitals at Karim Nagar via tele-link, Dr. Singh said it was the beginning of a new saga of enterprise and adventure to ensure provision of reliable, affordable and accessible care to all areas. With telemedicine at its core, the Apollo Reach Hospital model was an ideal example of an effective outreach programme. He expressed the hope that such efforts would multiply.

Prathap C. Reddy, Chairman, Apollo Hospitals, said the Reach venture was an attempt to touch a billion lives. In the first phase, 25 hospitals would be set up in semi-urban and rural centres increasing access to speciality care. Eventually, 250 such hospitals would come up in a phased manner.

PM added that while providing good healthcare depends on the availability of healthcare providers but good health outcomes are dependent on concomitant factors such as quality of water, sanitation, education and infant nutrition. The connection between poverty and ill health is obvious. Along with education and employment, health is a major priority of the government in the last four years.

He added that over the last few years the National Rural Health Mission has been successful in addressing the serious deficiencies in the rural public health system.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi said Apollo was a model in the private healthcare sector. It was the focus of both the State and the Centre to start hospitals in rural areas, he said, urging the community, philanthropists, doctors and patients to lend support to such ventures. He also inaugurated the second of Apollo Reach Hospitals in Karaikudi.