Vice President Venkaiah Naidu has stressed the need for making quality healthcare affordable for the people.

Addressing the convocation ceremony of AIIMS in New Delhi on Friday, Mr Naidu said, there is also a significant urban-rural divide which needs to be bridged up by providing state-of-the-art healthcare services.

He also said, the curriculum in medical education needs to be constantly upgraded in tune with the latest advancements.

He hoped that the curriculum developed at AIIMS can be adopted by other AIIMS like institutions and other medical colleges.

He said, there should be one medical college in each district. He also appreciated Ayushman Bharat initiative of the government saying that it will go a long way taking care of the health needs of poor people.

Speaking on the occasion, Health Minister J P Nadda said, four lakh 50 thousand patients have received the benefits under Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana of Ayushman Bharat in the past two months.

Mr Nadda said, the priority of the government is to ensure highest standards of medical education in the country. He said the government has now planned for rapid expansion of medical education in the country.