Rishikesh, Uttarakhand: National Family Medicine Day was observed at AIIMS, Rishikesh to recognize the importance of Family Physicians during the 6th National Conference of Family Medicine and Primary Care. On this occasion, the chief guest, Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Raj Bhushan Choudhary, while describing the importance of family physicians, said that today the number of patients in hospitals is increasing because of the shortage of family physicians in the community. Therefore, he stressed on bringing back the concept of family doctor, and also expressed the need to train family doctors, so that we can build a good and strong health system.
He mentioned the various health programs sponsored by the Government of India. He talked about the decision to extend the benefit of the health insurance scheme under Ayushman Bharat to people above seventy years of age. He said that the Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Yojana is efficiently providing low cost and good quality medicines. Crores of people have benefited from the program. Similarly, during the Covid pandemic, vaccines were made available to more than a billion people of India. The number of new AIIMS institutions has also increased due to which people across India are benefiting. During the program, Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti Chaudhary, who himself is a doctor by profession and has served patients at village level, also discussed with the medical students and discussed with them the intricacies of the medical profession, and also advised the doctors to do community outreach. He inspired them to work in community and rural areas.