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Mumbai, October 25: Taking ahead from his digital media campaign, prime minister Narendra Modi stressed on the need of upgradation in medical science and telemedicine in the country during the inauguration of the recently refurbished Sir Harkisondas Nurrotamdas Reliance Foundation hospital in South Mumbai Saturday evening.

“When our country is compared to other countries, the health care system in our country shames us,” Modi said. He added, “Instead of focusing on treatment of patients, the health care system must focus on preventive care. It takes less to invest in preventive care than in treatment.”

While addressing several Bollywood stars and political dignitaries, including Maharashtra governor Vidyasagr Rao, present at Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital’s inauguration, Modi emphasized on the urgent need to inculcate habit of hand washing as a preventive measure in the health care system. “The women and child mortality is still alarming in the country,” he said, adding that he read that  40 per cent child death in Pakistan is caused due to absence of hand-washing. “The roots of both the countries are the same and the situation is not very different in India,” Modi said.

After the launch of ‘Make in India’ campaign, Modi now encouraged the concept of foreign direct investment in the country’s health care system adding that telemedicine will benefit rural areas where expert knowledge can be used to conduct emergency surgeries. He also indicated that the Digital India campaign will be used to improve the telemedicine services in the country.

“It is not possible to bring sophisticated technology in general hospitals. FDI should be encouraged in bringing about medical equipment for benefitting rural areas,” he added.

Modi inaugurated almost 90-year-old heritage hospital located in the area of Khetwadi in South Mumbai. The hospital was refurbished by Reliance Foundation which joined the management of the hospital in 1997.

 Located in south Mumbai, the hospital in its 90th year was rebuilt by the Reliance Foundation, led by its chairperson Nita Ambani, into a modern 19-storey tower with two heritage wings, the foundation said in a statement.

 Nita Ambani termed it "a historic day" in the life of the hospital which was re-dedicated to the people of Mumbai.

 "Narendra bhai, we assure that this hospital will become a centre of good health and global levels of health care, respect for life, modern technology combined with love and compassion, with dignity to all," Nita Ambani said.

 "This will not be just a hospital but an institution of care," she said, adding that words like religion, caste, social strata, age and gender will not interfere with the kind of treatment patients receive.

 "We won’t just treat health, we will also respect life," and at this institution quality will meet affordability, she added.

 Founded in 1925 as Mumbai’s first general hospital, it has a rich heritage — it saw the freedom struggle and the Second World War, and Mahatma Gandhi was among its frequent visitors.

 The hospital celebrated its silver jubilee with Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel as its chief guest and the golden jubilee celebrations were graced by Jayaprakash Narayan.

 Now in its 90th year, the prime minister is inaugurating its new avatar, the foundation said.

 The hospital has collaborations with Johns Hopkins, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital and the University of Southern California. It is also equipped with robotic surgery and online video conferencing facility for global consultations.

 The hospital’s outreach programme currently covers over 310,000 individuals providing preventive and primary healthcare on a digital platform virtually free of cost. It has also initiated steps to adopt nearby areas as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

 It has also adopted water recycling and rainwater harvesting programmes, making it one of the greenest health care facilities of its size in the country.

 The 345-bed, multi-specialty tertiary care hospital has six thrust areas: cardiac sciences, nephro-urology, neuro sciences, oncology, orthopaedics and spine, and women and child health.

 Earlier, Mukesh Ambani, his wife Nita and other family members welcomed Modi near the entrance to the hospital, along with Maharashtra Governor C.V. Rao.

 Present at the inauguration were Kokilaben Ambani, Amitabh Bachchan, Gulzar, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Paresh Rawal, Rishi Kapoor, Neetu Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai, Bharat Ratna Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Praful Patel, Kajol, Rani Mukherjee, Sonali Bendre, union minister Nitin Gadkari and Maharashtra BJP leaders Devendra Fadnavis, Vinod Tawde and other celebrities.