Page 39 - Health Ministry

Delhi comes up with 'mega action plan' to curb vector-borne diseases

The Delhi government has come up with a "mega action plan" to combat the spread of vector-borne diseases, under which steps will be taken to determine the serotype of the prevailing dengue virus in the city. Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Sunday chaired a high-level meeting on preparedness for keeping vector-borne diseases under check in the national capital. One of the significant decisions taken in the meeting was to "determine the serotype of the prevailing dengue virus" in identified laboratories, the Delhi health department said in a statement. "This step will provide crucial information for developing targeted interventions and enhancing the effectiveness of disease management efforts," it said. According to data shared by civic authorities, 136 cases of dengue and 43 of malaria have been recorded in Delhi this year till July 8. The existing helpline -- 1031 -- used during the COVID-19 pandemic will now be utilised to facilitate dengue treatment. This expansion o

Centre to seek ideas to amend PCPNDT Act to address sex ratio imbalance

The Centre and states will work on a mission mode to address the issue of sex-ratio imbalance, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Saturday and stressed on ensuring "comprehensive and saturation coverage" of all health schemes. He said that concerns over sex-ratio imbalance across the country were discussed at the Swasthya Chintan Shivir here. It has been decided that the Centre and states will work on a mission mode to address the issue, the minister said on the last day of the two-day conclave in the Uttarakhand capital. The Centre will also seek suggestions from states for amending the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994, for its effective implementation at the ground level to address sex-ratio imbalance, according to official sources. India's Sex Ratio at Birth has improved from 904 females per thousand males in 2017-2019 to 907 in 2019-2020. It was recorded at 898 in 2014-2016, according to Sample Registration System (SRS) ...

Union minister Mandaviya stresses on saturation coverage of health schemes

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Saturday stressed the need for ensuring comprehensive and saturation coverage of all health schemes so that no eligible beneficiary is left behind. Mandaviya hoped that a two-day "Swasthya Chintan Shivir" organised here would provide suggestions on how to shore up existing healthcare facilities as well as on new interventions required across the country. According to official sources, "Ayushman gram sabhas" will be organised in all villages to ensure that the benefits of the health schemes of the central and state governments reach people and whichever village manages to saturate all the schemes will be declared an "Ayushman Village". "The Swasthya Chintan Shivir should help bring us closer to the idea of last-mile connectivity in health. In the last two days, we have seen a detailed overview of the health sector in India today and the direction that we should take going forward to ensure universal health coverage," Mandaviya said. "Lok ..

Have taken regulatory action against 105 pharma companies: Health minister

Mandaviya said that after 137 firms were inspected, production has been stopped at 31 companies and the product licenses of 50 firms have been cancelled

Covid cases in India lowest since Feb 2020 as active cases dip to 1,431

India has recorded 24 new coronavirus infections, the lowest since February 2020, while the count of active cases has dipped to 1,431, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday. The first case of coronavirus infection in the country was recorded on January 30, 2020 from Kerala and the first death was reported on March 10, 2020 from Karnataka. The health ministry started issuing daily Covid data from March end onwards. According to the data updated at 8 am on Monday, the death toll was recorded as 5,31,913. The Covid case tally has been recorded at 4.49 crore (4,49,94,599) while the national recovery rate has been recorded at 98.81 per cent, the ministry said. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,44,61,255 and the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.18 per cent. According to the ministry's website, 220.66 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.

Health ministry asks NMC to waive fees for mock NExT to be held on July 28

Deliberations have begun at the National Medical Commission (NMC) after the Union health ministry asked it to consider waiving the fees for the mock National Exit Test (NExT) to be held on July 28 for the 2019 batch of final-year MBBS students across the country. The NExT, scheduled for July 28, will be conducted by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi. According to a notification issued by the premier medical institute last week, "General" category and OBC candidates will have to pay Rs 2,000 each to appear in the mock test, while an SC, ST or EWS applicant will have to pay Rs 1,000. Persons with benchmark disabilities will not have to pay any fee to appear in the examination. The AIIMS, Delhi has been entrusted with the job of conducting the mock test. It will be a computer-based examination consisting of multiple-choice questions, sources said. The aim of conducting the mock test is to familiarise the prospective candidates with the computer-based test, ..

Health Ministry proposes 5 MoUs to create awareness on benefits of millets

Region-specific millet recipes have been developed for school canteens, defence messes and train menus among others, and the Union Health Ministry has proposed signing MoUs with five ministries to create awareness about their nutritional benefits through collaborative approach. With 2023 being celebrated as the International Year of Millets, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has written to ministers of Defence, Railways, Education, Women and Child Development and Youth Affairs and Sports informing them about books with the region-specific recipes developed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). In his letter, Mandaviya said FSSAI, under the aegis of the Ministry of Health, has been promoting incorporation of Shree Anna (millets) as part of a healthy and diverse diet among different sections of people through its Eat Right India initiative. In his letter to Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Mandaviya said healthy children and youth are the foundation of a .

Pocket-friendly health: Price caps on critical medical devices extended

The pricing policy is a part of the National Medical Device Policy 2023 launched by the government to facilitate the growth of the sector while also ensuring accessibility and affordability

Centre asks states to promote organic farming, stop urea diversion

Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday urged states to promote organic farming for preservation of soil health and make efforts to reduce use of chemical fertilisers. The minister also asked states to take up effective steps to curtail diversion of urea meant for agriculture and farmers, to other sectors, according to an official statement. Mandaviya said this while virtually interacting with agriculture ministers of states and Union Territories on the recent decisions made by the Cabinet regarding fertiliser sector. On June 28, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved a new scheme, PM-PRANAM to incentivise states to promote alternative fertilisers and reduce the use of chemical fertilisers and also decided to continue the current urea subsidy scheme for three years ending March 2025, with an outlay of Rs 3.68 lakh crore. That apart, CCEA approved an outlay of Rs 1,451 crore subsidy to promote organic manure, taking the total package t

Medical seats in India more than doubled in last eight years: Dr VK Paul

During this period, the number of medical colleges in the country has grown from 387 to 704, and in 2023 alone, India has added 52 new colleges

Self-regulatory body for pharma industry on cards: Mansukh Mandaviya

Mandaviya says joint squads of state and Centre formed for risk-based assessment of plants

Mandaviya reviews heatwave preparedness; team to visit worst hit states

As several states continue to reel under intense heatwave, Union Health Minister said that five-member team from the health ministry, NDMA, IMD will visit the states worst-affected by the heatwave

Candidates from 9 states corner 70% medical college seats; Rajasthan tops

Admissions for homoeopathic and Unani medicines are also based on NEET-UG scores

Health Ministry planning to prepare National Action Plan on AMR 2.0

AMR has been identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the significant threats to global health

Sudhansh Pant named new health secy, Chanchal Kumar to be aviation secy

Senior IAS officer Sudhansh Pant has been named as the new Health Secretary as part of a top-level bureaucratic reshuffle effected by the Centre on Tuesday. Pant, a 1991-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Rajasthan cadre, is currently Secretary in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways. He has been appointed as the Officer on Special Duty (OSD), Department of Health and Family Welfare. The officer will take over as Secretary, Department of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, upon retirement of Rajesh Bhushan on July 31, 2023, an order issued by the Personnel Ministry said. T K Ramachandran, chairman of V O Chidambaranar Port Trust, Tuticorin, will be Secretary, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways in place of Pant. Chanchal Kumar, Managing Director of National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd., has been named as the new Civil Aviation Secretary. "The officer will join as Officer on Special Duty, ..

CoWIN data breach a national emergency: Cyber law expert Pavan Duggal

The bot is ultimately managed by someone else. The minimum action that is required is a criminal investigation. CERT-IN doesn't have penal investigation powers

Data breach reports from CoWIN without any basis, clarifies Health Ministry

The Union Health Ministry on Monday said reports claiming breach of data of beneficiaries registered on the CoWIN platform were "without any basis", and that it has requested the country's nodal cyber security agency CERT-In to look into the issue and submit a report. While asserting that the CoWIN portal is completely safe with adequate safeguards for data privacy, it said an internal exercise has been initiated to review the existing security measures of CoWIN. There are reports alleging breach of data from the Co-WIN portal of the Union health Ministry, which is repository of all data of beneficiaries who have been vaccinated against COVID19, the health ministry said in a statement. "It is clarified that all such reports are without any basis and mischievous in nature. Co-WIN portal of Health Ministry is completely safe with adequate safeguards for data privacy," it said. The ministry, however, said it has requested the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) to look

Health ministry unveils food safety index, Kerala secures top ranking

Among the larger states, Kerala secured the top ranking, followed by Punjab and Tamil Nadu Among the smaller states, Goa emerged as the leader on food safety index

Threat of pandemics far from over, need to strengthen system: Minister

The threat of pandemics is far from over and the current need is to integrate surveillance systems of countries under the "One Health" framework and strengthen it, Union Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar said on Sunday. "The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted that partnerships are most fruitful only when developed during peacetime and not amidst an ongoing pandemic, and that we need to focus on creating resilient health systems, with primary health as its cornerstone," Pawar said in her address at the third G20 Health Working Group meeting here. G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of Tourism, S P Singh Baghel, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, and Dr V K Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog, were present on the occasion. Pawar further stated that the "partnership we share as G20 members is vital and facilitates in building trust, sharing knowledge, creating networks and working together to achieve meaningful impact and results." Pawar also highlighted the ne

Odisha train mishap: Mandaviya to visit AIIMS-Bhubaneswar, medical college

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will visit the AIIMS Bhubaneswar and the Cuttack medical college on Sunday to take stock of medical assistance being provided to the victims of the Odisha train accident, sources said. The Friday triple train accident has left at least 288 people dead and over 1,100 injured. The crash involving Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express and a goods train occurred around 7 pm on Friday near the Bahanaga Bazar station in Balasore, about 250 km south of Kolkata and 170 km north of Bhubaneswar.