New Delhi, Nov 22 (IANS): The Union Health Ministry on Friday entered into a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and the Ministry of Education to boost academic research.

The MoU aims to provide enhanced funding and technical support to the Institute of Medical Sciences (IMS), BHU.

Under the MoU, the Health Ministry will provide a grant to IMS, BHU on the lines of the new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) set up under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY).

It will also enhance the availability of affordable state-of-the-art secondary and tertiary health care services to the people of the region. The Institute will contribute significantly to reducing referrals by enhancing the delivery of clinical care services. This will result not only in increased patient experience and satisfaction but is expected to notably reduce out-of-pocket expenditure on patient care.

"This MoU is a result of the Union government's ‘whole of the government’ approach, which fosters increased collaboration across various government departments for shared goals aimed towards people’s benefit," Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda said.

He emphasised that this MoU would establish a close partnership between AIIMS, New Delhi, and IMS, BHU which will lead to higher teaching standards and excellence in research outcomes.

He also proposed regular student and faculty exchanges between IMS, BHU and AIIMS for enhanced outcomes.

“The MoU will deepen academic and research collaboration between AIIMS and IMS BHU paving the way for sharing of knowledge and expertise, particularly in the areas of upgradation of clinical and healthcare facilities, robotics surgery, hospital administration and governance,” added Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

The MoU aims to share experience, technical support and academic cooperation between the two Institutes.