CSR activities in health sector need to move beyond cities: Anupriya Patel

Corporate Social Responsibility-related activities in the health sector need to "move beyond cities" to the deeper pockets of the country which have been deprived of healthcare, Union Minister of State for Health Anupriya Patel today said.

Addressing a gathering at a CSR award event organised by India Health and Wellness Summit Initiative here, she also said the government "wants the corporate sector to really supplement our efforts".

"But, I must say that we need to move forward, and take CSR to the remotest parts of the country, the deeper pockets, which have been more backward and more deprived of healthcare for a long time," Patel said.

Patel also asserted that the tendency to do good "must continue", irrespective of whether a company gets awarded or not for its CSR work.

"Various enterprises have been contributing to the society even before the CSR funding initiatives came up. But, the tendency to do good must continue," she said.

The minister in her address also outlined the vision and efforts of the Centre in taking health care to the poorest and the needy.

"As announced by our Prime Minister from the Red Fort, our Jan Aarogya Abhiyan is all set to be rolled out in September, which seeks to cater to each and every aspect of healthcare," she said.

Ayushman Bharat is the flagship initiative under which 1.5 lakh primary healthcare centres across the country would be transformed into "wellness centres".

"Earlier they (primary healthcare centres) were just seen as points of maternity care and delivery, but now they will turned into facilities offering a complete package of 12 different services, that will include ENT, dental and geriatric care, management of communicable disease such as as dengue and malaria," she said.

"They will also have facilities for screening for non-commumicable diseases, diabetes and hypertension, as well as three types of cancer -- oral, cervical and breast, and leprosy and tuberculosis," the minister said.

For Ayushman Bharat, we are also going to have largee-scale deployment of digital tools.

Union minister Vijay Goel also emphasised that CSR funds should be taken to remotest villages which need attention.