New Delhi, Feb 25 (IANS): A healthcare system resting on the trinity of availability, quality and affordability is the sign of a developed country, President Pranab Mukherjee said Tuesday.

"In India, extending the circumference of our country's health coverage has been a long-drawn endeavour," Mukherjee said at the foundation day celebrations of the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) of the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital here.

"In 2005, the National Rural Health Mission was started to take healthcare to the doorstep of the rural population through a network of sub-centres, primary health centres and community health centres.

Better infrastructure, trained manpower, effective drugs and modern equipments have improved service delivery. This mission has now been extended to the urban areas," he said.

"A healthcare system resting on the essential trinity of availability, quality and affordability is a sine qua non of a developed country," he said, but noted that in India, a world-class healthcare system eludes the common man.

"High medical expenses can cause a setback in the lives of poor people. Patients with economic difficulty should not stand denied of proper medical care. In this context, I want to underline the need for health insurance mechanism to work effectively to provide relief to people during medical emergencies," he added.

Mukherjee said technology is the messiah of modern-day world and path-breaking initiatives in different fields have the imprint of cutting-edge technology.

"In healthcare, technological applications have brought about a silent revolution. The telemedicine project using satellite technology has helped establish linkages between health centres in remote areas and super-specialty hospitals in urban areas, and facilitated expert healthcare consultation reaching the needy and under-served," he said.