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Written By: Agencies | Updated : January 15, 2015 12:58 PM IST
New Delhi, Jan 14: Noting that cleanliness has direct relationship with well-being, Health Minister J P Nadda today said that his Ministry is working to integrate Swach Bharat - Swasth Bharat and will soon come out with new initiatives. As far as our hospitals and all the immunisation programmes are concerned...Swach Bharat Swasth Bharat... our major problems, as per indicators, wherever there is backwardness, where there is lack of cleanliness, there is edload and patientload is more. Therefore, cleanliness has got a direct relationship with health conditions. We are trying to link, he told reporters. He said that a couple of inter-ministerial meetings have already taken place and his Ministry is trying to connect more stakeholders to do the same. For hospitals, how to keep them clean on a sustainable basis...In the campaign, we are sensitising. But how to make it sustainable at the same time...we are trying to work out on that methodology. Very soon we will be coming with new initiatives in that direction, Nadda said. (Read: Amitabh Bachchan joins Swach Bharat mission)
He said that in places like Gorakhpur and others, where water-borne diseases have been reported, it has been found that it lacked cleanliness and information due to which the Ministry will be taking it up as a mission. Elaborating further, the Health Minister said that his Ministry was coordinating with Drinking Water Ministry to make safe drinking water available in those place where it is most essential. ...wherever there is this (water) problem, there it reaches quickly. We are building both short term and long term strategy. While ROs figure out in short term strategy, getting safe drinking water through pipelines is long term.
This is an essential component. If this is not there and we keep on providing medicines and also keep the source open, it will remain a continuous process and casualties will keep happening. So we are integrating this, Nadda said. He said that similarly his Ministry was talking to other ministries like Animal Husbandry and HRD on how to bring cleanliness issue in books for children. We are trying to discuss and work in coordination. We have told them about our priority areas. We are also trying to make meetings between us more frequent, Nadda said. (Read: Nadda for innovation of new low cost drugs)
Noting that there was a shortage of 7.5 lakh of doctors, Nadda said that his ministry has appealed to India Medical Association to give their views on ways of connecting doctors with rural India. We will take their viewpoints. Our Ministry's stress is on increasing the faculties and seats. We have also decided to upgrade 58 district hospitals into medical colleges. This is a continuous process. We have to think out of the box. We have to connect with stakeholders. Very soon we will take a call on it, he said. Explaining about the six new proposed AIIMS, Nadda said the issue was in cold storage for a long time and there were a lot of bottlenecks.
We have held meetings with all six AIIMS separately as each had their own types of problems. By January end, all bodies will be in place of all different AIIMS. By first week of February, we are trying to remove all bottlenecks. The system was cumbersome and we are trying to simplify it. Decentralisation of powers and authority is also being done and by second week of February we will be giving powers. Funds are there. Because of the bottlenecks the pace was slow, he said. (Read: Union Health Minister JP Nadda says healthcare quality shouldn t suffer in quest for quantity)
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of extending help to SAARC nations in eradicating polio, Nadda said that his Ministry has sent the proposals to Ministry of External Affairs and extended all help. Elaborating about the Universal Immunisation programme and the recent launch of 'Indra-dhanush' programme, Nadda said approximately 35 per cent of new-born children are uncovered from immunisation. 70 lakh children are partially immunized and 20 lakh children are totally uncovered. Keeping that factor in mind, we have decided to take care of all the partially uncovered and covered, that is 90 lakh children, and see to it that we reach more than 65 per cent, he said.
Elaborating further, he said that it would be taken up in a phased manner and this would be over the regular immunisation programmes which are going on. Nadda said that in the first six months, the Ministry would concentrate on high priority 201 districts of which 80 are on the top. In January and February, the Ministry will work out the logistics part in which he himself will visit a few states to see their preparedness. Noting that the National Health Policy is already in the public domain inviting suggestions, the Health Minister said that suggestions will be taken till February 28 and it was an open thinking and the Health Ministry can enter, re-enter and add new aspects to it based on the suggestions. (Read: Health Minister Nadda to focus on optimal utilisation of health resources)
Source: PTI
Photo source: india.com
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