Centre working to integrate cleanliness, health programmes

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 initatives.
"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.
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 Husbandary 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.