New Delhi/Amaravati: The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has once again urged the Andhra Pradesh government to adopt the public-private partnership (PPP) model to expand healthcare services and address gaps in medical infrastructure, including Dental Services.
In a letter to State Health Secretary S Saurabh Gaur, Union Health Ministry Joint Secretary Vijay Nehra said PPP remains a highly effective tool to scale up healthcare delivery and medical education. The communication follows an earlier letter from Union Health Minister J P Nadda highlighting the same approach.
The Centre enclosed 27-page guidelines detailing how private sector participation can be leveraged to improve service availability. It recommended implementing PPP across five key areas: nuclear medicine, mobile medical units, dental services, radiology, and cancer day-care centres.
The ministry suggested using equip-operate-maintain (EOM) and operate-and-maintain (O&M) models, with payment mechanisms structured over five to 10 years, to ensure sustainable service delivery.
Emphasising the growing burden of cancer and other non-communicable diseases, the Centre noted that nuclear medicine facilities remain inadequate, especially in small and medium towns. It called for urgent expansion of PET-CT, SPECT imaging and radiotherapy services through PPP to improve access in rural and semi-urban areas.
The letter also highlighted serious gaps in dental care, stating that 60 to 90 per cent of people across age groups suffer from dental problems while services remain limited. It pointed to shortages of dental equipment and specialists at community health centres and urged strengthening dental services at primary health centres through PPP.
To improve diagnostics, the ministry stressed expanding access to X-ray, CT scan and MRI facilities, describing PPP as an effective way to bridge current shortages.
On cancer care, the Centre said PPP is well suited for setting up cancer day-care centres for early screening and diagnosis. It reiterated its target of establishing such centres in all government hospitals by 2027–28. For Andhra Pradesh, 14 cancer day-care centres have already been sanctioned for 2025–26.
State Health Secretary Saurabh Gaur has placed the contents of the Centre’s letter before Health Minister Y Satya Kumar Yadav for consideration.