Underlining the need for providing affordable and quality healthcare to citizens, Prime Minister Narendra Modi renewed his government’s commitment to bridge the demand-supply gap of doctors and modern healthcare infrastructure.

Modi was speaking at the inauguration of the second campus of Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute in Kolkata via video conference on Friday. Built at a cost of over ₹540 crore, out of which around ₹400 crore has been provided by the central government and remaining by the West Bengal governmentthe campus, has a 460-bedded comprehensive cancer unit, said an official press statement. It will also work as an advanced cancer research facility .

Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee and Union Ministers Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, Dr Subhas Sarkar, Shantanu Thakur, John Barla and Nisith Pramanik were among those present on the occasion.

Addressing the gathering, Modi said, the new campus will go a long way in providing affordable care especially to the poor and middle class families.

“In the journey of the pledge to make best medical care available to each and every citizen of the country, we have taken another strong step,” he said.

India has achieved the historic milestone of 150 crore Covid vaccine doses in the first week of January. As cases are rising due to the Omicron variant, this shield of 150 crore vaccines doses becomes all the more important, he said.

The country has started the year with vaccination for children in the age group of 15 to 18 years.

“More than 90 per cent of the country’s adult population has received a single dose of the vaccine. Within just five days, more than 1.5 crore children have also been given the dose of the vaccine,” he said.

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