Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Dec 29: Since the launch of National Rural Health Mission seven years ago substantial progress has been made in health sector and over 8,60,000 ASHAs have been appointed to act as bridge between the communities and the health facilities in the villages. Moreover, a total of 70,000 beds have been increased in the Government health institutions for provision of essential and emergency services.
This was stated by Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Ghulam Nabi Azad while addressing inaugural function of Ashwini Rural Medical College, Hospital & Research Centre (ARMCH) at Solapur in Maharashtra.
Mr Azad said that his Ministry has taken several steps to improve health scenario in the country and nearly 1.6 lakh human resources such as Specialists, Doctors, Nurses, ANMs and Para-medics have been added. “A Mother and Child Tracking System has been put in place to reach out to every pregnant woman and child for proper vaccination. The Government has launched a scheme wherein male and female contraceptives are being delivered at the doorstep in the high focus districts of the country by ASHAs at a nominal cost”, he added.
Another scheme has been initiated for the promotion of menstrual hygiene among adolescent girls of rural areas in the age group of 10-19 years covering 1.5 crore girls in 152 districts of 20 States, he further said, adding there has been significant fall in MMR, IMR and TFR as well as reduction in new HIV cases by as much as 57% in the country.
Stating that his Ministry has been focusing on reforming policies related to medical and paramedical education with a view to overcome the acute shortage of human resources in health, Mr Azad said, “a series of reforms in medical education were undertaken to increase the human resources at various levels. These path-breaking decisions have brought in positive results, never seen before in the past six decades. The availability of MBBS seats has gone up by nearly 40% and the number of PG seats by about 80%”.
To overcome the shortage of nurses and ANMs, he said that Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry has already sanctioned 269 nursing schools in the last two years mostly in remote, inaccessible and under-served districts. With an estimated outlay of Rs 2,030 crore, these institutions will give an additional 20,000 nurses annually. To scale up the availability of para-medics through centres of excellence in para-medical education, a National Institute of Paramedical Sciences (NIPS) at Delhi and 8 Regional Institutes have been sanctioned.
“A total of 10,760 paramedic professionals are expected to be trained annually when these institutes of excellence are fully functional”, he said, adding “the 12th Plan has just been finalized by the National Development Council. It is a matter of great satisfaction that health has been given a central position in the 12th Plan and the outlay for health has gone up substantially”.
Mr Azad said that several new initiatives have been envisaged during 12th Plan period which include strengthening of sub-centres, which are the first port of call for the community for healthcare services in the remotest and inaccessible areas by providing additional manpower, District Hospitals would be equipped to become strong hubs for advanced secondary and multi-speciality care, to cope with the increasing load at Government facilities, 20,000 additional beds for mothers and children have been approved for District Hospitals and Community Health Centres. Moreover, there is a proposal to introduce universal screening for all children for disease, disability and deficiency, which would be followed up by free treatment.
“There is also a proposal to ensure availability of free generic medicines to everyone coming to a Government health facility. Another area would be the launch of an urban health initiative to address health concerns of urban poor specially those living in the urban slums”, he added.
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