Global Summit focuses on mental, physical healthcare

Visakhapatnam: The state government has been consistently improving the healthcare sector by radically revamping the public and preventive healthcare through strategic interventions, Minister of Health, Family Welfare and Medical Education of Andhra Pradesh Vidadala Rajini said. After conveying Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy's message at the inaugural of the 16th Global Healthcare Summit organised by the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), she mentioned that 7.3 percent of the state budget is spent on healthcare compared to the national average which is approximately 4 percent. "The state government's main focus is to strengthen the health delivery system at village level, concentrating on preventive care at large," the Health Minister, who attended the summit as chief guest, emphasised.

As many as 200 delegates from the US are attending the summit that will continue till January 8. As a part of it, the delegates will share insights into technology and advances made in the medical space along with best practices implemented in the US to learn from one another.

Addressing the gathering, IT Minister Gudivada Amarnath underlined the need to accelerate research on preventing new variants of the virus. "With the Covid-19 pandemic already claiming scores of lives across the world, such research work should be accorded top priority," the IT Minister opined.

Focusing primarily on mental health, nephrology, among others, the summit aims to develop partnership, learn from one another and work towards strengthening a robust ecosystem in healthcare. AAPI president Ravi Kolli, chairs of GHS 2023 T Ravi Raju and Prasad Chalasani, chief advisor J Sudhakar, chair of AAPI BOT Viswesara Ranga, among others, described how the platform gains significance in the health space through a host of insightful sessions covering diverse topics. The deliberations centred on varied themes such as mental health, maternal and child health, oncology, cardiology, neurology and gastroenterology.

Earlier, the doctors from the US highlighted how mental healthcare is as important as physical healthcare, how people in the US give preference to regular screenings and are more open to accepting mental health issues if any compared to the people in India. Since there is no dearth of doctors, they emphasised on focusing more on identifying the signs of silent killers such as diabetes, hypertension, cancer and heart diseases at the earliest before they become fatal. A souvenir was launched on the occasion.