GUWAHATI: Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal attended the 59th-anniversary programme of Gauhati Medical College as the chief guest at the GMCH Auditorium in the city on Friday and spoke about the need for the medical college to take an international approach to make Guwahati a healthcare hub of South East Asia taking advantage of Act East Policy. As patients from different corners of the state come to GMC for better treatment along with patients from neighbouring countries like Bhutan, the medical college must set the highest standards of healthcare service, he said. Highlighting various steps of the state government to bolster public healthcare system of the state, Sonowal said that new medical colleges were being set up in the state which would augment the heath sector and 19 cancer hospitals were also coming up in Assam in joint initiative of state government and Tata Trusts. Chief Ministers Free Diagnosis programme, Atal Amrit Abhiyan, Aayushman Bharat and such other schemes were benefitting a lot of people by making quality medical services accessible and affordable, he said. Urging the GMC and government hospitals to fully utilise the advanced machineries installed by the government in delivering dedicated service to the public, the chief minister highlighted Prime Minister Narendra Modis initiatives like Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, POSHAN Abhiyan, Fit India Movement etc for making people of the country healthy and disease free. Sonowal also urged the medical fraternity to create awareness against the drug menace among the patients and their attendants and called on the doctors to uphold the true spirit of their noble profession. Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Pijush Hazarika informed about the various steps of the state government in the health sector. MLA Ashok Sarma, Principal of GMC Dr. R.K Talukdar was also present at the programme among other dignitaries, a press release stated. Also Read: Is Free Healthcare Really Free At GMCH? Also Watch: All North-Eastern states to be connected to Delhi by long-distance trains: MoS Railways S C Angadi

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