India controlled COVID 3rd wave through holistic approach: Mansukh Mandaviya

By Shalini Bhardwaj
Narmada (Gujarat) [India], May 5 : Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday said that India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has shown the world how the pandemic can be successfully managed.
Mandaviya was speaking at the inauguration of the three-day "Swasthya Chintan Shivir" at Gujarat's Kevadia.
Mandaviya started his address by stating that "the Statue of unity, a symbol of "Ekta" represents India's federal structure, working in a well-aligned democracy".
"This summit, organized to do "chintan" on Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav will provide us a collective and collaborative vision of the central and state governments and a roadmap for the next 25 years - the Amrit Kal of India's Independence," said Mandaviya at 14th Central Council of Health and Family Welfare Conference (CCHFW) in Kevadia, Gujarat.
"This Chintan Shivir is the best example of federal democracy. Best practices from various states should be implemented at the national level. This is a platform for learning from each other," he added.
Underscoring the importance of moving forward with a holistic approach in the spirit of cooperative federalism, the Health Minister reminded us that when the world is still grappling with COVID, India under the leadership of the Prime Minister has shown the world how the pandemic can be successfully managed. "It is only through the joint and holistic efforts of the Centre and the States that we have tackled the COVID19 pandemic," he added.
'We made robust guidelines to tackle COVID and implemented them effectively. Now many countries are still witnessing COVID waves with staggering economies. We controlled Covid during 3rd wave through a holistic approach," said Mandaviya.
The Health Minister informed that the Centre and States are increasing their health budgets so that affordable healthcare can be made available to all.
He highlighted that through PM-ABHIM, the Centre has allotted Rs 64,180 crore for strengthening public health infrastructure across all states and UTs while the overall health budget in the last six-seven years increased from Rs 37,000 crore to Rs 86,000 crore.
Praising India's COVID warriors and frontline workers, Mandaviya said, "The entire world is appreciating India's COVID management model and vaccination drive. To achieve first dose coverage of vaccines for 95 per cent of all adults is hugely commendable."
The Health Minister further said that Health Mela should be conducted in every Block where Ayushman Bharat card should be issued along with identifying the ailments in the people.
On the occasion of Chintan Shivir, the Union Health Minister released the National Report of the fifth round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) and the Rural Health Statistics Publication for the year 2020-21.
The NQAS (Net Quality Assurance Standards) portal of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and the Pradhan Mantri National Dialysis portal was launched at the event.
Mandaviya presided over the 14th Conference of the Central Council of Health and Family Welfare (CCHFW), an apex advisory body of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), named "Swasthya Chintan Shivir", at Kevadia, Gujarat today in the presence of Bhupendrabhai Patel, Chief Minister of Gujarat, Brajesh Pathak, Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare and Dr VK Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog.
Health Ministers and Lieutenant Governor of 19 States and UTs are participating in the 3-day conference.
The objective of the three-day conference is to review the implementation of policies and programmes relating to the medical and public health sectors and to recommend ways and means for better implementation of these policies/programmes for benefit of the common people.
Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, Dr Balram Bhargava, DG, ICMR, Dr Randeep Guleria, Director AIIMS New Delhi and other senior officials of the Health Ministry and States were also present at the meeting.