A bill for setting up a National Council for 'Human Resources in Health' will be introduced in Parliament soon, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh said on Friday.
Addressing students at the 38th convocation ceremony of the All India Institute of Medical Resources here, Dr. Manmohan Singh said: "The bill will seek to create an enabling environment that will address issues of quality, quantity and equitable distribution of medical education resources.
Dr. Manmohan Singh said India needs many more health professionals, of different categories, to fill the huge short fall in the health workforce. Many of our medical colleges are deficient in the learning resources needed to train specialists.
"AIIMS, and similar institutions which are leaders in medical education, have to show the way ahead. They should develop strong distance learning programmes. They should assemble a repository of learning resources which can be easily accessed by undergraduate and postgraduate students all across India," he added.
Highlighting the health policy of his government, Dr. Singh said: "In recent years, the Government of India has adopted a more inclusive and holistic approach towards providing health security in our country, emphasizing therein the importance of improved sanitation, nutrition and clean drinking water."