UPA Govt committed to better healthcare for common man: Minister

Gudivada, Andhra Pradesh, Sep 8 (UNI) Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Panabaka Lakshmi today said the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre was committed to provide better healthcare services to the common man in the country.

Participating at a national seminar on 'Homeopathy and Research Trends' here, she said to fulfil the commitments given in the Common Minimum Programme (CMP), the government had raised the budget allocation for health from two to three per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Ms Lakshmi said the Centre had also allocated Rs 11,000 crore under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) to provide better healthcare services to those in the rural areas.

Under this, Rs 564 crore had been allocated for the traditional healthcare system 'Ayush' comprising Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy, she said adding that every district level hospital would be provided with a 'Ayush' unit.

The country had made a big achievement in the manufacture of Homeopathy medicines and reached to the level of exporting them, Ms Lakshmi mentioned.

The UPA Government had allocated Rs eight crore for research in Homeopathy this year.

At present, Homeopathy medicine had been receiving good response from urban populace, she said and asked the Homeopaths to take the system of medicine to rural areas to provide better healthcare.

UNI