Chennai: Tamil Nadu can position itself as a centre for excellent medical treatment facilities for the developed world, like done by the latter in the case of 'Business Process Outsourcing', under which processes were transferred to developing countries for cost-effective solutions, the Chief Minister Jayalalithaa said on September 10.

"It will not be long before this trend gets accentuated and we must focus on providing world-class quality medical care to facilitate this," she said addressing the 38th annual conference of the Association of Plastic Surgeons of India, at Udhagamandalam (Ooty).

"I propose to have a think tank by continuously examining how we can build upon this emerging trend."

The government's health policy was now being reshaped to recognise the role of the private sector. "The public sector will be made more efficient with emphasis on improving the quality of health infrastructure as part of the social safety net health cover for the poor and the needy.

"Simultaneously, we shall forge a partnership with the private sector whose chief features will be easy access and better coverage of the poor," the Chief Minister said.

She also announced that hereafter her government would make financial assistance available to those belonging to the poorer sections of society who were badly in need of plastic surgery or reconstructive surgery.

Till now, there was no provision for assistance to those who needed plastic surgery, especially women who suffered burn injuries in "dowry-related violence".

PTI