The Indo-Global Healthcare Summit & Expo on Innovations and Advances kicked off at the Taj Group of Hotels in Hyderabad on Thursday.
Panchayat Raj and Information Technology Minister K Taraka Rama Rao inaugurated the 3-day meet by lighting the lamp.
The meet is being organised jointly by the Indus Foundation, the government of Telangana, the Indian Medical Association, the government of Andhra Pradesh, the Federation of AP Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FAPCCI) and the Indian Pharmaceutical Association.
Addressing the gathering, KTR, who substituted for Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao as the latter was pre-occupied, said that the priority of the Telangana government was to ensure a better life and the alleviation of disease for the people of Telangana.
He said that the government was determined to revamp the public health sector in the Telangana region by ensuring adequate faculty in all the medical colleges.
He informed the gathering that efforts were on to get the Medical Council of India to renew the recognition of a medical college in Nizamabad which was kept on hold due to inadequate faculty.
KTR admitted that except in Hyderabad, there were no good corporate hospitals in Telangana.
"As you know, the development of the public health sector is crucial as nearly 85% of the State's population depends on it. Therefore, our government will ensure that sufficient budgetary allocations are made to government hospitals. Right now it is less than 2% of our budgetary allocation, and we would like to double it. The government is also aware that certain governments allocate more than 10% of the budget to healthcare. Our government will set a target of at least doubling the present allocation to start with," he said.
The Minister announced that super-specialty hospitals on the lines of the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences would be set up in all the districts of the State.
The Telangana Government would work in tandem with the Central Government to attain the goal of "Health For All By 2022", he said.