Page 40 - Health Ministry

Govt to launch Ayushman Bhav to achieve 100% coverage of health schemes

The Union health ministry is planning to launch 'Ayushman Bhav' programme to ensure optimum delivery of all state-run health schemes to every intended beneficiary, including those in the last mile. Ayushman Apke Dwar 3.0, Ayushman Sabha, Ayushman Mela and Ayushman Gram are some of the activities planned under the programme, official sources told PTI. "The aim of the campaign is to ensure comprehensive and saturation coverage of all health schemes so that every eligible beneficiary is able to avail their benefits," an official source said. Ayushman Apke Dwar 1 and 2 drives have been conducted successfully. Under the Ayushman Apke Dwar 3.0, an intensive drive will begin from August 1 to ensure full saturation, the sources said. Ayushman Sabha will be a village-level campaign led by the village health, sanitation and nutrition committee to ensure the benefits of all the health schemes of the central and state governments reach the intended beneficiaries, they said. These will also ..

ICMR to explore vaccine against 'WHO Blueprint Priority Pathogens': Govt

The ICMR has collaborated with two global institutions to explore available vaccine candidates against "WHO Blueprint Priority Pathogens", the government told Lok Sabha on Friday. Minister of State for Health SP Singh Baghel was replying to a question on the steps being taken by the government to speed up the development of vaccines for "emerging/reemerging pathogens". The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has collaborated with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and the International Vaccine Institute, Korea, for exploration of available vaccine candidates against "WHO Blueprint Priority Pathogens" and the feasibility of bringing available technology to India, he said. On the steps being taken by the government to promote development and production of vaccines for diseases such as polio, smallpox and measles, Baghel said the ICMR has been designated as the secretariat for the National authority for Containment (NAC) of polio viruses. The ICMR has approved .

Report violations of e-cigarette sales ban on portal: Govt to states

The Centre has asked states to report on its portal information on the availability of e-cigarettes on online shopping sites and retail shops despite a ban on it since 2019. The portal www.violation-reporting.in will help the Union Health Ministry collate information and take swift action on reported violations, an official source told PTI. The Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes (Production, Manufacture, Import, Export, Transport, Sale, Distribution, Storage and Advertisement) Act (PECA) came into force in 2019. There seems to be a lack of awareness about the portal which was launched in May, an official source said, adding anyone can report violations of the PECA and the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act-2003 on the website. The communication from the Union Health Ministry to the states was issued on the same day the Centre sent notices to 15 websites selling e-cigarettes, directing them to stop advertisement and sale of the banned products. Six more websites are on the

Need for universal, country-specific food safety standards: Mandaviya

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday said there is a need to frame universal food safety standards as well as country-specific standards after detailed discussions at global level to tackle the challenges of food contamination, lifestyle diseases and imbalance in nutrition intake. The minister was speaking after inaugurating Global Food Regulators Summit 2023 being organised in the national capital for the first time as a G20 event by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The two-day summit serves as a platform for food regulators from over 40 countries to collaborate and work together. Addressing the event, Mandaviya underscored that there is a need for a global platform for detailed discussions and deliberations on food safety, similar on the lines of World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of WHO. He said an annual meet to discuss standards by United Nations' food standards body, the Codex Alimentarius Commission, is not enough. "The way .

India ends Covid-19 testing requirements for international travellers

Health ministry guidelines say travellers should be fully vaccinated and follow preventive measures

Govt eases Covid guidelines for i'ntl travellers, drops RT-PCR requirement

The Union Health Ministry has further eased COVID-19 guidelines for international visitors, dropping the earlier requirement for RT-PCR based testing of a random two per cent subset of international travellers. The guidelines have been eased after taking note of the prevalent coronavirus situation and the significant achievements made in the vaccination coverage across the globe. The new guidelines shall come into effect from midnight of July 20. However, the earlier advice for precautionary measures to be followed by airlines as well as international travellers in context of Covid shall continue to apply, the ministry said.

Health min moots Centre, state be empowered to regulate drugs, cosmetics

The Union Health Ministry has mooted that either the Centre or state authorities be empowered to regulate the manufacture of drugs and cosmetics, changing its earlier proposal of allowing only the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) to do so. As of now, all manufacturing activities relating to drugs and cosmetics are regulated by only the state governments through their drug control organisations, official sources told PTI. The draft bill also mentions that the Central government may regulate, restrict or prohibit selling, stocking, exhibiting or offering sale or distribution of any drug online by notification. The latest draft of the New Drugs, Medical Devices and Cosmetics Bill, 2023, which seeks to replace the Drugs and Cosmetics Act of 1940, is yet to be approved by the Cabinet. It, however, features among the 21 key bills that are on the agenda for the Monsoon session of Parliament. The latest version of the draft bill states, "No person shall himself or by an

15 websites selling e-cigarettes under scanner health ministry's scanner

The Union Health Ministry has sent notices to 15 websites selling e-cigarettes, which is banned in India, directing them to stop advertisement and sale of the products, official sources said. Six more websites are on the radar, they said, adding the ministry is also closely monitoring the advertisement and sale of e-cigarettes on social media and might issue notices to them soon. Of the 15 websites which have been issued the "takedown notice", four have stopped operations while the rest have not responded yet, an official source told PTI. "If they don't respond and comply with the law, the health ministry will write to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology for taking down these websites. Legal action will also be taken against these websites accordingly," the source said. The Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes (Production, Manufacture, Import, Export, Transport, Sale, Distribution, Storage and Advertisement) Act came into force in 2019. The health ministry's not

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