Centre asks AP to adopt PPP model
New Delhi/Amaravati: The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare once again wrote to the state government, urging it to adopt the public-private-partnership (PPP) model to expand healthcare services and bridge the gap between demand and availability of medical facilities.
In a detailed letter, Vijay Nehra, Joint Secretary, Union Health Ministry, wrote to state Health Secretary S Saurabh Gaur, outlining the need to scale up healthcare delivery through PPP. Along with the letter, the Centre enclosed comprehensive guidelines running into 27 pages, detailing ways to maximise service delivery through private participation.
Referring to an earlier communication from Union Health Minister J P Nadda, which described PPP as a highly effective tool for expanding medical education and healthcare infrastructure, Nehra said the present letter was a follow-up to that communication.
The Centre suggested implementing the PPP model across five key areas to address the mismatch between the growing demand for healthcare services and their limited availability. These include expansion of nuclear medicine services, mobile medical units (MMUs), dental services, radiology facilities, and cancer day-care centres.
The ministry recommended adopting PPP through equip-operate-maintain (EOM) and operate and maintain (O&M) models to improve service availability. It also issued guidelines on payment mechanisms to be followed by private partners for service delivery over a period of five to 10 years.
Highlighting the importance of nuclear medicine in providing advanced care for cancer, cardiovascular and neurological diseases, the Centre noted that such services are currently inadequate, particularly in medium and small towns.
It advised the state to take immediate steps to expand these services through PPP, especially in view of the rapid rise in cancer cases. The ministry emphasised the need to make PET-CT, SPECT imaging and radiotherapy services accessible to people in rural and semi-urban areas.
The Centre also expressed concern over the poor availability of dental care, noting that 60 to 90 per cent of people across various age groups suffer from dental problems, while services remain insufficient.
It pointed out the lack of dental equipment and specialists at community health centres (CHCs) and urged strengthening dental services at primary health centres (PHCs) through the PPP model.
To improve disease diagnosis, the ministry stressed the need to expand access to X-ray, CT scan and MRI facilities, stating that PPP would be an effective route to achieve this.
As part of the fight against cancer, the Centre said PPP is well-suited for establishing cancer day-care centres for early screening and diagnosis. It reiterated its goal of setting up day-care centres in all government hospitals across the country by 2027–28. For Andhra Pradesh, 14 such centres have already been sanctioned for the year 2025–26, the letter said.
The state Health Secretary Saurabh Gaur has brought the contents of the Centre’s letter to the notice of Health Minister Y Satya Kumar Yadav.
