Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare will inaugurate “Arogya Manthan 2022” on 25th September, 2022 to celebrate four years of implementation of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri – Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) and one year of implementation of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM). Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister for Electronics & Information Technology, Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare and Dr V. K. Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog will grace the event. Senior Government officials from the states/UTs will also be present. The two-day event will see active participation from global and national experts from the healthcare sector along with representatives from academia, think-tanks, industry, and media.
The Union Health Minister will kick-start the celebrations by interacting with beneficiaries of AB-PMJAY from across the country on 23rd September 2022.
AB-PMJAY will complete four years of its implementation on 23rd September 2022 and Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) will be marking its first anniversary on 27th September 2022. Fortnight-long celebration in the form of ‘Ayushman Pakhwara’ to mark the anniversary of AB- MJAY is already underway in all states implementing the scheme, from 15th to 30th September 2022. Under the ‘Ayushman Pakhwara’, 33 states and UTs participating in AB-PMJAY are organizing awareness programs, health check-up camps and mass drives for Ayushman Card generation for beneficiaries of the scheme.
A Digi Health Expo will bring innovators from public and private sector exhibiting innovative digital health solutions.
The two-day event will have a total of twelve sessions covering a comprehensive list of agenda. Day-1 will have sessions on Universal Health Coverage in India, Promoting Interoperability in Digital Health, Enhancing the Efficiency of PM-JAY, Adoption of Digital Health, Health Technology Assessment for Evidence Informed PM-JAY Decisions and Privacy and Security Issues related to Digital Health. Sessions lined up for Day-2 include Best Practices by States Implementing ABDM, Digital Health Insurance in India, PM-JAY Best Practices by States, International Best Practices in Digital Health, Ensuring Access, Affordability and Quality in Healthcare through PM-JAY and Way Forwards for Digital Health in India.
NHA will also present the Ayushman Utkrishtata Puraskaar 2022 (Ayushman Excellence Awards) to felicitate the top performing states, PMAMs (Pradhan Mantri Arogya Mitra) and public hospitals under the AB PM-JAY and best performing states/ UTs, districts, private & government health facilities and digital health solutions under ABDM. The winners of ABDM Hackathon Series Round 1 will also be awarded at the ceremony.
“In a country that is globally recognized for seeing health as a seva and considering its health professionals as life saviours, we can similarly create “seva bhav” of donating organs and make a mindshift in our countrymen towards eye and organ donation.” This was stated by Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr Mansukh Mandaviya during the 37th National Eye Donation Fortnight celebrations today at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi. Celebrations are organized annually from 25th August to 8th September by National Eye Bank housed in Dr. Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences, AIIMS, New Delhi for promoting awareness regarding eye donation, felicitating the donor families, government and non-government organizations for their crucial role towards this noble cause.
Underscoring importance of eye donation, he stated that organ donation provides quality life to the recipient and a sense of satisfaction for the donor families. Dr. Mandaviya expressed his heartfelt thanks to the donor families for their noble deed of donating corneas of their loved ones which will give the gift of vision to the needy patients. Quoting Bhagwat Gita’s shloka of “karmanye vadhika raste, Ma phaleshu kadachana”, Dr. Mandaviya also highlighted about the country’s vibrant Indian culture and traditions that teach us “Seva Bhav and “Sahyog”.
Union Health Minister also noted that “despite having rich knowledge and defined responsibility, there has been less than expected response towards organ donation from our citizens. There needs to be behavioral shift towards organ donation in the country. I urge everyone for widespread awareness for this through a Jan Andolan.” He hoped that this realization and steps would lead to a significant progress towards boosting organ donation in the country.
Highlighting Government’s effort towards this cause, he added that Government of India is working towards a robust and systematic work structure for boosting organ donation and efficiently achieving the targets. He appreciated efforts of the National Eye Bank and other stakeholders towards corneal transplantation, awareness programs and making related services further accessible to the common public.
An annual report of the National Eye Bank, RP Centre for the year 2021-22 was released at the event. Report highlighted the crucial role played by National Eye Bank (NEB) in addressing the issue of corneal blindness in the country. More than 31,500 corneas have been collected, over 22,350 visual rehabilitations through corneal transplantation and greater than 70% utilization rate since 1965 has been achieved so far. NEB has also played a crucial role in promoting eye donation activities, corneal transplantation, educating and training medical workforce, eye banking research, motivating general public along with several other activities.
Dr. Randeep Guleria, Director AIIMS, Prof Jeewan S Titiyal, Chief, RP Centre, Prof Radhika Tandon, Chairperson, National Eye Bank along with senior faculty of AIIMS, RP Centre, experts, representatives of supporting government organisations, partner institutions and NGOs/societies, school children and senior govt officials were present at the event.
Union Minister of Chemical and Fertilizers, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya addressed the Silver Jubilee Celebrations of National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), here today. Shri Bhagwanth Khuba, Minister of State for Chemicals & Fertilizers and New & Renewable Energy graced the occasion as guest of honour.
Addressing the event, Dr Mandaviya congratulated NPPA for working more as a facilitator, not merely as a regulator. He highlighted their noteworthy contribution towards ensuring availability and affordability of medicines in the last 25 years.
The Union Minister also praised the Indian Industries for continuously producing quality products. He urged them to produce medicines and bring innovative research with the goal of ensuring good health and well-being of the people, not only for commercial purpose.
Dr Mandaviya assured Indian pharma companies of continuous support from the govt. He highlighted the PLI 1 and PLI 2 schemes for the industries, which has helped in bringing about indigenous manufacturing of many critical APIs in the country. He also recalled the positive contribution of Indian pharma companies during the Covid crisis and highlighted the importance of cooperation and collaboration between the govt and industry in bringing quality healthcare to the masses
Shri Bhagwanth Khuba praised NPPA for being in service of the country and the Pharma sector successfully for the last 25 years. He stated that “NPPA ensures availability of affordable medicines without harming the interests of the industry”. He also expressed his optimism that with the launch of the two applications today, NPPA is expected to further carry on its work in a smooth and efficient manner in the coming years”.
At the inaugural session, Integrated Pharmaceutical Database Management System 2.0 (IPDMS 2.0) and Pharma Sahi Daam 2.0 App were launched.
IPDMS 2.0 is an integrated responsive cloud based application developed by NPPA with technical support from Centre for Advance Computing (C-DAC). It is envisaged to optimize synergies in operations in order to promote Government’s thrust on ‘Ease of Doing Business’ as it would provide a single window for submissions of various forms as mandated under Drug Price Control Order (DPCO),2013. It would also enable paperless functioning of NPPA and facilitate the stakeholders to connect with National Pharma Pricing Regulator from across the country.
Pharma Sahi Daam 2.0 App will have updated features like speech recognition; availability in Hindi and English; share button and bookmarking medicines. This version of Pharma Sahi Daam also has facility for launching complaints by consumer through the consumer complaint handling module. The App will be available in both iOS and Android versions.
A publication titled ‘An overview of Drug Pricing @ NPPA 25 year Odyssey’was also launched at the inaugural session. The publication chronicles not only the 25 year journey of NPPA but also highlights the evolution of the drug regulatory system in the country with special emphasis on pricing regulation.
Earlier, Shri Kamlesh Pant, Chairman, NPPA had delivered the welcome address. Ms S Aparna, Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals,and Dr. Vinod Kotwal, Member Secretary, NPPA were present in the event.
Stakeholders from the pharmaceutical and MedTech devices industry, Central and State Governments, Price Monitoring and Resource Units, Civil Society, patient advocacy groups, Pharmaceutical Research and Academic Institutions, Think-Tanks and media representatives from all over the country were also present on the occasion.
Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya today inaugurated the ‘NEW STATE OF ART’ multi-speciality Out-patient and In-patient (OPD/IPD) blocks at Lady Hardinge Medical College (LHMC) and associated hospital, New Delhi in the presence of Dr Bharti Pravin Pawar, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare.
The new IPD Block will increase the bed strength of LHMC from 877 to more than 1000 beds. The IPD Block houses an additional highly sophisticated CT scanner. The new multi-speciality OPD Block has additional facilities for holistic health care including all medical and surgical specialities, Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy & Homeopathy.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya said that the country has moved away from a “token” towards a “total” approach. He said, “Today, under the leadership of our respected Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji, the goal of the Central Government is to work holistically in the health sector with synergy between preventive healthcare and modern medical facilities. Along with reducing cost of treatment of the poor, efforts are also being made to rapidly increase the number of doctors. We need to think holistically and make the roadmap for long-term. This year, when we are celebrating Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, we need to work together with a vision of how India’s health infrastructure will be when we will complete 100 years of independence”.
He further stated that states play a very crucial role in the implementation of any programme made by the Centre. “During the past 3-days Swasthya Chintan Shivir, held at Kevadia, Gujarat, all State Health Ministers shared their best practices and had a very fruitful discussion about how can we make it Universal”, he said.
The Union Health Minister further said that Jan Bhagidari is very important for the implementation of any action plan, programme, or scheme made by the Government of India. “Making health accessible, affordable and patient-friendly is very important. Our efforts need to be in the direction of advancement of the Nation; the Nation should always come first”, he noted.
Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar, Union Minister of State expressed her elation at being present at the oldest medical college in the nation’s capital. She said, “this medical college has a long history of more than a century. The institute has come a long way and is progressing with times. It is important to note that better health facilities are not limited only to the treatment of diseases. They also encourage and promote social justice. When the poor get affordable and quality treatment, their faith in the system gets stronger”.
Dr Atul Goel, Director General Health Services, Dr Ram Chandra, Director, Lady Hardinge Medical College, faculty members, staff and students of the institution were present at the inauguration event.
Union Health Minister, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya will inaugurate the Step – Up to End TB- World TB Day Summit on the occasion of World TB Day (24th March 2022) at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. Chief Guest at the Summit will be the Hon’ble Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Smt. Anandiben Patel, who will attend virtually. Leading discussions from the front, she will bring to light India’s accelerated pace of innovations and achievements for eliminating TB by 2025. The Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar will also be present at the summit.
In March 2018, Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi chaired the Delhi End TB Summit. At the Summit, the Prime Minister gave the clarion call to End TB in India by 2025, five years ahead of the TB-related SDG targets of 2030.
The Ste-Up to End World TB Day Summit of 24th March 2022 is not only a follow-up to 2018 that gauges how far – and to what degree – India has progressed in its journey to TB elimination; it is also a reiteration of India’s TB commitments, and an effort to assemble the right minds as the country moves forward to meet its TB elimination objectives. The Summit will provide a forum to showcase the National TB Elimination Programme’s learnings and successes and frame it in a manner that inspires more forward-looking policies across infectious diseases, and not just TB alone. From vaccine development to the need for greater inter-departmental/ministerial and inter-state collaborations, the event aims to be an incubator for TB mitigation ideas that are disruptive and cognizant of a changing post-COVID world order.
At the event, Union Health Minister will award well-performing states and districts for achieving improved levels of TB elimination. A TB survivor will share her story and journey of overcoming this disease.
Featuring a meeting with State Health Ministers, the Hon’ble Health Minister will lead a session eliciting experience-sharing and commitments to intensify elimination efforts at the state and district level, with parallel sessions for states to present their best practices. The Summit will then lead into a session on findings from the to-be-released National TB Prevalence Survey results, with an eye for India’s action plan for achieving SDG elimination targets. To give an experiential look into the TB landscape, development partner organizations will present select exhibitions on innovative program practices, and give attendees a keen look into India’s future of becoming TB-free through a whole-of-society approach.
The event will further call for a Jan Andolan by eliciting commitments across Ministries and states, as well as setting the agenda for elected representatives and grassroots leaders to provide leadership at the last mile.
To be held over two days, this Summit will be attended by Health Ministers from various states, State Health officials and other key stakeholders working on the issue of TB elimination in India.
