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The Delhi government will inaugurate 70 more Arogya Ayushman Mandirs this month, taking the total number of operational health clinics in the capital to over 200, officials said on Thursday. The national capital currently has around 168 Ayushman Mandirs, and with the more coming up in 10 out of its 11 districts, the government aims to make these clinics the "backbone of the community healthcare". Officials also said the government would no longer operate health centres from rented buildings, as adequate space is now available for new facilities. Delhi Health Minister Pankaj Kumar Singh told PTI that the government is committed to scaling up the network rapidly. "With these 70 new Arogya Ayushman Mandirs, we are taking quality primary healthcare directly to people's neighbourhoods. Our goal is simple no citizen should be left behind because of distance, cost, or lack of access," he said. He added that the government plans to reach an even higher number by the end of this year, wit
Drowning, often unreported and misunderstood, remains one of the leading causes of child mortality in India, and it is entirely preventable through simple and low-cost interventions, especially at the grassroots level, according to an expert at a top UK-based institute. Drowning is often categorised under unnatural deaths and not recognised by many governments as a serious issue, said Kate Eardley, Head of International Advocacy at the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). India has played a key role in supporting the 2023 World Health Assembly (WHA) resolution on drowning prevention, signalling an important shift at the global level, Eardley told PTI in a recent interaction during her first visit to the country. Drowning is still not recognised by many governments as a serious issue. It's often categorised under unnatural deaths' without acknowledging the scale or the solutions. But, drowning is preventable," she said. India has also introduced a national strategy on ...
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the future of a healthy world depends on inclusion, integrated vision and collaboration, as he asserted that India's approach offers replicable, scalable and sustainable models to meet health challenges of the Global South. In his video message during the 78th Session of the World Health Assembly in Geneva, he highlighted this year's theme, 'One World for Health' and emphasized that it aligns with India's vision for global health. Modi recalled his address at the 2023 World Health Assembly, where he had spoken about 'One Earth, One Health' and pointed out that the future of a healthy world depends on inclusion, an integrated vision, and collaboration. Emphasizing that inclusion is at the core of India's health reforms, he highlighted Ayushman Bharat, the world's largest health insurance scheme, which covers 580 million people and provides free treatment. The programme was recently expanded to cover all Indians above the age of 70 years.
India was on Tuesday felicitated by the World Health Organisation for the elimination of trachoma as a public health problem, making it the third country in the region after Nepal and Myanmar to achieve this feat. The WHO also felicitated Bhutan for achieving interim targets for cervical cancer elimination, Maldives and Sri Lanka for Hepatitis B control in children, Timor-Leste for eliminating lymphatic filariasis and six countries for achieving SDG and global targets for reducing under-five mortality and stillbirth rates. "India's success is due to the strong leadership of its government and the commitment of ophthalmologists and other cadres of health-care workers. "They worked together with partners to ensure effective surveillance, diagnosis and management of active trachoma, provision of surgical services for trichiasis, and promotion of water, sanitation and hygiene, particularly facial cleanliness, among communities," said Saima Wazed, Regional Director WHO South-East Asia, a
An expert group constituted by Niti Aayog to prepare a framework for future pandemic preparedness has suggested enacting separate legislation to handle public health crises. The report titled 'Future Pandemic Preparedness and Emergency Response - A Framework for Action' said learning from the experience of COVID-19, the experts have realised that responding in the first 100 days of an outbreak is crucial for effective management. "A separate Public Health Emergency Management Act (PHEMA) is proposed to facilitate the management of any public health crisis. "The PHEMA can address various aspects beyond epidemics, including non-communicable diseases, disasters, and bio-terrorism, and should be in place for a developed country," it said. It will allow a holistic approach to health management, covering prevention, control, and disaster response, the report added. "The Act would also provide for the creation of skilled public health cadres at national and state levels," it said. The r
Government doctors in Haryana went on a strike on Friday to press their demands for formation of a specialist cadre and a reduction in the bond amount for postgraduate courses, impacting outpatient department (OPD) services in some hospitals. This is the second time this week that government doctors in the state have gone on a strike. They first went on a strike on Wednesday. They resumed emergency duties after they were assured that a meeting will be arranged between the health minister and representatives of the Haryana Civil Medical Services Association (HCMS), a body representing government doctors in Haryana which is leading the protest. The HCMS had on Wednesday said that doctors would go on an indefinite strike from Friday with a complete shutdown of all services if the government did not accept their demands. Among the doctors' demands are formation of a specialist cadre for doctors, reduction in the bond amount for postgraduate courses and a dynamic assured career progress
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday launched the third phase of the state's flagship health scheme - Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY). Patnaik said with this third phase of expansion, it is estimated that over 1.10 crore families, covering nearly 90 per cent of the state's population will be provided health assurance under BSKY. The chief minister said that the BSKY will ensure that no family in Odisha is left vulnerable due to lack of financial resources to meet high expenditure for critical illnesses. The families left out in the first two phases of the BSKY, would be covered in the third phase, Patnaik said while launching the new 'BSKY Nabin Card' for the beneficiaries. "We are now launching the third phase of BSKY, where all left-out families of rural areas of our state will be assured of cashless health service in private hospitals, for all critical ailments," Patnaik said. Stating that the BSKY scheme was launched five years ago to provide health assurance to a
The government considers mental health an important public health concern, and the work on it from boosting facilities to training doctor and other experts, is being done in a "mission mode" under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union minister Bharti Pravin Pawar said on Wednesday. Addressing a national conference on mental healthcare hosted by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) at Vigyan Bhawan here, she also lamented that the society still does not look at mental health in the right way. She asserted that it is critical to remove the stigma that prevents individuals from seeking help. "Mental health is an integral part of our health as it affects all aspects of our lives," the Union Minister of State for Health said, adding that it affects people cutting across age, sex, social and economic status of individuals. She said according to a National Mental Health Survey of India conducted through NIMHANS, Bengaluru in 2016, the prevalence of mental disorders
The formal end of the national Public Health Emergency on Thursday is largely a symbolic and psychological step, representing the country's formal emergence from the COVID-19 pandemic. But behind the scenes, several core aspects of America's pandemic-era emergency safety net are also coming to a close, from extra food assistance to automatic re-enrolment in Medicaid. While these measures were always designed to be temporary, their expiration is inevitably producing hardship and confusion. People are starting to get their jobs back, but it's still not all the way back and everything is more expensive than before the pandemic, said Radha Muthiah, president of the Capital Area Food Bank. The people we serve always seem to be playing catch-up. At Thursday's White House briefing, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre took note of the end of the public health emergency. The work won't stop, she said, with the administration working to ensure continued access to COVID vaccines, treatments and
Maternal Mortality Ratio has declined from 130 per lakh live births in 2014-16 to 97 per lakh live births in 2018-20, according to a special bulletin released by the office of the Registrar General of India. According to the data, Assam has the highest Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) of 195 while Kerala has the lowest of 19 per lakh live births. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya attributed the improvement in the country's MMR to the Narendra Modi government's various healthcare initiatives. Maternal mortality in a region is a measure of the reproductive health of women in the area. Many women of reproductive age die due to complications during and following pregnancy and childbirth or abortion, the Special Bulletin on Maternal Mortality in India 2018-20 said. The present bulletin provides the level of maternal mortality for the period 2018-2020. According to World Health Organization, "Maternal death is the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of .
The Biden administration said on Thursday that the COVID-19 public health emergency will continue through January 11 as officials brace for a spike in cases this winter. The decision comes as the pandemic has faded from the forefront of many people's minds. Daily deaths and infections are dropping and people many of them maskless are returning to schools, work and grocery stores as normal. The public health emergency, first declared in January 2020 and renewed every 90 days since, has dramatically changed how health services are delivered. The declaration enabled the emergency authorisation of COVID vaccines, testing and treatments for free. It expanded Medicaid coverage to millions of people, many of whom who will risk losing that coverage once the emergency ends. It temporarily opened up telehealth access for Medicare recipients, enabling doctors to collect the same rates for those visits and encouraging health networks to adopt telehealth technology. Since the beginning of thi