Union minister for health Ghulam Nabi Azad has called upon the doctors of All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) not to leave this premier referral hospital of the country for private hospitals just for some money. "One can choose between money and service, some people choose big money and less satisfaction and some less money and more satisfaction. I think in these professions, one should go for more satisfaction," Azad added.
Speaking after visiting the Health Exhibition on the occasion of the 54th Institute Day of AIIMS in New Delhi, Azad asked the doctors as well as the faculty of the AIIMS not to leave the institution for private sector. "As a Health Minister both private and public sector are the same for me but as the president of AIIMS, I will ask the doctors not to leave", he said.
Azad recalled the vision of Jawaharlal Nehru and Rajkumari Amrit Kaur for establishing a centre of excellence like AIIMS. The minister said that the institute was envisaged as the top referral institute for the country but over the years it has come to be burdened with normal cases at the cost of type of cases it should deal with. To correct all this, UPA government has launched the revamping of rural health system in the country and NRHM aims to strengthen medical facility at the district, and local levels up to the sub centres in the remote village areas by 2012.
This along with establishment of 8 AIIMS like institutes and upgradation 19 medical colleges all over the country will relieve AIIMS of much of its routine normal cases and will enable it to become a 'perfect referral hospital not only for the country but for the entire world', the minister said.