Andhra Pradesh Private Hospitals & Nursing Homes Associations (APNA), the apex body of small hospitals and nursing homes in the state celebrated Doctors' Day on July 8 in Hyderabad and released a book on doctors’ life, titled “Life Savers” written by Madhavi Siddam, a medical journalist.

About 600 doctors from all over the state took part and celebrated the event. APNA constitutes about 7000 small hospitals and nursing homes in the state. Hyderabad itself constitutes about 1500 small hospitals and nursing homes.

Top dignitaries who were present on the occasion included, Dr J Geetha Reddy, Minister for Major Industries, Kondru Murali, Minister for Medical Education, and Dr Chiranjeevi, member of Parliament.

Dr R S Saluja, state president of APNA along with Dr KGN Reddy, state general secretary and Dr Yadaiah, city president submitted a memorandum to the Medical Education and Health & family welfare minister Kondru Murali to look in to the problems faced by the doctors in the state.

Dr Chiranjeevi praised the efforts of doctors for making Hyderabad as a medical hub of India and stressed on health awareness among the common public and said prevention is better than cure.

Geeta Reddy thanked the doctor’s community for they have done commendable job in bringing laurels to Hyderabad city by making it a health capital and she further urged that if doctors could register with Tourism Ministry for health tourism, they can attract patients from abroad as well.

Speaking on the occasion, Madhavi Siddam, Author of the book said, “Life Savers – from the diary of a medical journalist” is a tribute to Doctors who dedicate their lives to the world of medicine. This book is a comprehension of the lives of top doctors, having insight to their childhood, education, struggles they faced to establish in the field, their professional specialties, and their achievements with interesting anecdotes to give message to the society.

The Medical Education minister said, “The Arogyasri Health Insurance Scheme is a novel scheme which is taking care of the healthcare needs of the poor who cannot afford medical costs. We are committed to it and spending about Rs. 1350 crore every year for the purpose.”

With state of the art cancer, gastroenterology, plastic, dental and eye surgeries, the city of Hyderabad has really grown into medical capital of India. Of late Hyderabad is also attracting medical tourists. Medical tourists from African, Central Asian and South East Asian countries frequently visit the city for medical treatment.

Reddy also expressed her concerns regarding the commercialization of hospitals and requested the doctors' fraternity to work towards restoring patient’s confidence. She also expressed her anguish that Doctors those who are born and brought up in rural areas and whose parents live in rural areas are not inclined to work in rural areas. “The doctors must willingly accept any assignments in rural areas,” she said.

As part of government efforts to modernize the government hospitals on lines of private hospitals, the state government is increasing its medical budget every year. For the current year the state government had allocated a budget of Rs. 5, 800 crore for the health and medical department.