Mushrooming of corporate hospitals in the country is largely due to the failure of the health system and does not augur well for the country. Stating this, Prof. Pradeep Kumar Dave, Director, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) maintained that the privatization of tertiary health care should be avoided. "Health care in my opinion should be the duty of the state. Privatisation of healthcare may augment the supportive role of the state but giving leeway to private players in a big way does not augur well for the country," Prof. Dave added.

"Privatisation of tertiary health care is no way of increasing the reach of healthcare to the country's population. The state has outlined its duty in terms of healthcare and it should be entrusted the task of doing so even in future. The increase in number of corporate hospitals is mainly due to the failure of the state and this aspect should be first taken care of instead of being happy at the large number of corporate hospitals springing up in the country," Prof. Dave further reiterated.

Commenting on the contribution made by autonomous institutions in medical research, Prof. Dave said some institutions under the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) were showing some results in research work. "JIPMER, CMC Vellore, PGI, Chandigarh and Lucknow, Indira Gandhi Institute, Patna and SRMC &RI to name a few, were doing good esearch work and they should be encouraged. In general though, research work in medical colleges is not satisfactory," Prof. Dave pointed out, claiming further that this was due to the fact that most teachers do no spend much time in the colleges. "To arrest this, private practice by faculty members should be regulated," he further added.

Prof. Dave called for increased financial input for the health sector so as to ensure better involvement of the teachers.