Health and Family Welfare Department Minister Shyam Bihari Jaiswal said that the aim of the State Government is not only to treat diseases, but to ensure timely detection and prevention of diseases thus extending quality healthcare. Addressing a press conference at the Auditorium of Samvad in Nava Raipur, the Health Minister gave information about the achievements of State Government’s Health Department in the last two years and the action plan for the next three years. The Health Minister said that human resources are the backbone of health services. In the last two years, around 1,639 posts of doctors, nurses and various cadres have been filled under Directorate of Health Services and National Health Mission while the recruitment process is underway for 2,300 posts. Under the National Health Mission, recruitment of medical specialists and doctors is being done every month through online applications, said Jaiswal. Along with this, 12 IPHL labs, 31 BPHU and 1 critical health care block have also been approved. He said that in the next three years, BPHU will be established in all the development blocks of the state and IPHL labs will be established in all the district hospitals and medical colleges.

 

In the last two years, about 3 lakh health fairs were organised in the Ayushman Arogya Mandirs of State, where wellness facilities were also provided along with treatment. Soon 75 Haat Bazaar Mobile Medical Units, 375 Ambulances and 30 Rural Mobile Medical Units will be started, he added. The Health Minister said, under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, treatment payments worth Rs 4,551 crore were made in more than 31.44 lakh claim cases in the last two years. Ayushman cards have been made for 90 percent of the ration card holders of the state, out of which 38.98 lakh cards were made in the last two years. Under the Chief Minister Special Health Assistance Scheme, treatment worth Rs 62.20 crore was provided to 2,273 beneficiaries. Quality certification of 884 government health institutions has been done under the National Quality Assurance Standards (NQAS). The IPHL labs operating at Raipur and Balodabazar district hospitals received quality certification from the central government, becoming the first and second hospitals in the country to do so. There is a plan to provide NQAS certification to all the hospitals and health centres in the state in the next three years. Health services were provided to more than 2 lakh people through tele-medicine, directly benefiting rural and remote areas.

 

Under non-communicable diseases, BP and sugar tests of more than 80 lakh citizens and cancer tests of more than 20 lakh people were conducted. The Health Minister said that more than 94 percent of the vaccination target has been achieved and 21,164 malnourished children were provided nutrition and treatment. Decisive control has been achieved on TB, malaria, dengue and filariasis. More than 12 lakh TB suspected patients were tested, with a success rate of 93% and 4106 Gram Panchayats were declared TB free. The malaria positivity rate has declined from 4.6 percent to 0.59 percent. Not a single death has been reported due to malaria in the state in the last one year, said Shyam Bihari Jaiswal. With special focus on sickle cell in tribal areas, 1.68 crore people were screened, in which 27,396 patients were identified. 57 mobile medical units have been launched for tribal areas under the PM JANMAN Yojana, he added. Health Minister Jaiswal said that in the coming years, the health services of State will be made more accessible, strong and quality oriented. Secretary of Health Department Amit Kataria and other officers were present in the press conference.