COVID-19: Odisha will pool all available resources to ensure proper healthcare to children, says CM

Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], July 2 : Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday said the state government will pool all available resources to ensure proper healthcare to children, following the basic principle of "Every life is precious."
Patnaik also appreciated the efforts of Doctors and health workers in saving precious lives during the second wave of COVID-19.
The Chief Minister said this while launching a training programme for doctors on paediatric care on a virtual platform on Friday.
The Chief Minister advised people to be extremely cautious as there have been reports of a possible third wave and it has a high probability of impact on children.
Stating that the government has approved an action plan to create infrastructure including equipment and medicine for paediatric care, the CM added that training of the doctors, for paediatric care, is very important to ensure capacity to treat children. "It's going to be a real challenge if such a situation arises, and we need to be prepared", he said.
Keeping an eye on the possible third wave, the state government has designed this training programme for General Duty Medical Officers and Nursing Officers. The CM also launched several Covid training capsules, awareness video and pocket book for frontline workers.
The Chief Minister further said that the COVID-19 pandemic impact has been devastating across the world. "Many countries have been affected by multiple waves of the COVID infection. India has also been severely affected by two waves of COVID infection. Since more than one year, Odisha has been on high alert, to tackle the pandemic situation. We have taken pro-active steps to contain the spread of the virus", he added.
Saying that the State has established a large network of government and private COVID hospitals across the districts to provide free quality treatment to our people, the Chief Minister thanked the efforts of all the doctors and healthcare community for ensuring timely treatment to the COVID patients.
The CM said that the infection rate has currently come down and the situation is under control. "However, there have been reports of a possible third wave, and its possible impact on the children", he added.
He expressed happiness over the vertical capacity building in the state and for the administration rising to the occasion, and train the entire range of health staff, starting from specialists to frontline functionaries within a short span of time.
He congratulated and appreciated the entire team, working for capacity building, including officials, from Health Department, NHM, SCB Medical College, development partners like UNICEF, UNFPA, WHO, IIPH, for working unwaveringly, taking forward this responsibility. He also congratulated the entire fraternity of doctors, nurses and frontline functionaries, for leading efforts against COVID-19.
He thanked the people of Odisha, for cooperating and supporting, the fight against this pandemic. Together, we will overcome this crisis, he expressed confidence.
Speaking on the occasion Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mohapatra said that the state has been able to show great efforts in providing free treatments for COVID patients. This training programme will be hugely beneficial for doctors and paramedics. He said that the training module has been designed with focus on technology and team work under the 5T module.
During the programme, three doctors from districts- Dr. Sagar Dalai from Sundergarh, Dr. Sarat Chandra Samal from Ganjam and Dr. Udaya Jyoti Mallick from Cuttack- interacted with the Chief Minister and spoke about the benefits of training for treating COVID patients.
They said that Odisha is the only state where oxygen is available at periphery medical facilities. A short video film on capacity building for COVID was screened.