New York: The American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) - a powerful professional body of about 42,000 doctors - concluded its 26th annual convention in Las Vegas on Sunday reaffirming its resolve to boost healthcare in rural India, a move applauded by Indian Health Minister A. Ramadoss in his keynote address.

Sanku S. Rao, who took over as president of AAPI from Hemant Patel at the convention, told IANS on telephone: "We have obtained an agenda from the Indian health ministry for projects in rural areas, starting with Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. We are also holding the second Indo-USA Health Summit in Delhi in January next year."

Ramadoss, who addressed the convention on Friday, expressed satisfaction that AAPI was taking interest in India and was glad to have the health ministry work with the association. He also talked about the grassroots efforts in the country for improving healthcare.

Rao said that during his one-year tenure he will also like to focus on professional and academic dimensions, including CME (Continuing Medical Education) both in USA and India.

Convention chair R. Pramod Kumar said AAPI has signed a memorandum of understanding with Apollo Hospitals for exhange of scientific knowledge in the medical field as wel as AAPI doctors going to India. Prathap C. Reddy, chairman of Apollo Hospitals, told the convention about the origin and growth of the hospital chain in India

Indian Ambassador Ronen Sen addressed the convention. The convention was attended by over 2,000 AAPI members. IANS