With an aim to bridge the gap between demand and supply of the healthcare system, the Union government is approaching the private sector. Speaking at the 44th convocation of All India Institute Of Medical Science on Saturday, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh focused on the ways to improve the quality of healthcare through primary, secondary, and tertiary healthcare systems.

The Union Home Minister stated that though the government has successfully overcome many health challenges, there are many health frontiers that still need to be conquered in the country such as malaria.

Singh further drew attention towards hygiene, sanitation, and cleanliness which play a crucial part in preventing many diseases and urged citizens to contribute to the "swwacchata abhiyaan" started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"The institution is a nursery of medical talent and it needs to expand to meet the growing need for medical human resource in the country. The expansion plans for the institution have been taken up and are underway," he said.

Delivering the presidential address at the convocation, the President of the institution and Union Health and Family Welfare Minister JP Nadda stated that ensuring the highest standards of medical education is a top priority for the government and six AIIMS have already been made operational and 12 new AIIMS are being set up in different parts of the country to set standards of medical education and healthcare at par with the best institutions in the world.

"Existing premier medical colleges are also being upgraded with top-notch infrastructure and facilities. Medical teachers will also be closely involved in policy planning, regulation and enforcement of standards in medical education," said Nadda.

The Health Minister stated that India faces the dual burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases unlike many other countries which have to address only one of these, and that the government is moving forward on various internationally mandated health indices.

"AIIMS influences the health scenario in the country not only directly by providing state of the art healthcare to almost 40 lakh patients a year; but also indirectly, first by training hundreds of graduates, postgraduates, in-service trainee doctors and nurses; second, by research in priority areas; and third by support to the national programmes and other organisations and institutions. AIIMS has been making these multifaceted contributions with distinction," said Nadda.