India launches healthcare drive

India is launching a major drive to train more healthcare professionals and professionalize the country's health system. The government plans to launch a network of public health institutes based on the system of technology and management institutes that have helped make the country a global leader in information technology and engineering. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the five state-funded schools will eventually graduate 10,000 public health professionals a year. Singh, who was one of the economists behind India's move to a free market in the 1990s, said the graduates will help the country develop the infrastructure necessary to eliminate the disparities in India's uneven healthcare system. The drive is also expected to help India compete in the international healthcare market, where the country hopes to become a major provider of outsourced healthcare and health IT services.

- see this article from the Financial Times