India taking rapid strides in providing quality healthcare: Naqvi

New Delhi: India is taking rapid strides in providing quality healthcare and its pharma sector is fast turning into the world's leading provider of life-saving medicines, former Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Wednesday.

Naqvi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision is such that not only does he want to ensure quality medical services for every citizen but also wants to ensure affordability.

He said that India made remarkable strides in the health and pharma sectors post-2014.

The senior BJP leader claimed India’s pharma sector, according to some projections, can reach up to the USD 130 billion mark.

"The number of pharmaceutical facilities with 10 plus active US-approved API products is fast rising. India is emerging as a world leader in this sector," Naqvi said at an event in Ghaziabad's Medha Hospital.

He claimed that Ayushman Bharat is the world's largest health insurance scheme and the envy of many nations.

"The philosophy of the government is the same -- leave no one behind. And that is also the philosophy of my party -- Antyodaya. The health infrastructure in the country has received a big boost after the Modi government came to power including the setting up of 16 new AIIMS," Naqvi said.

"Covid-19 seems history now. That is because it was handled ably by a government that cared. It was Prime Minister Modi, who was alert and ensured that all of us were ready to act in a quick manner. The government, the society and the medical fraternity all showed complete commitment," he said.