NEW DELHI : This was the yearwhen India was finally declared polio-free and while the African continent was wracked by the Ebola outbreak, not a single case was reported in this country.
Finding no reports of any polio case for the past three years, India was finally certified ‘Polio-free’ by World Health Organisation(WHO) in 2014.
This was a monumental achievement considering that India accounted for more than 50 per cent of the world’s polio incidence in 2009. It is also situated next door to a polio-endemic Pakistan.
Finally, gains began showing up on India’s health front. Along with decline in Infant Mortality Rate — a sharp 4.5 per cent drop in 2005-2013, that is from 68 per 1000 live births in 2000 to 40 in 2013 — accompanied by a drop in urban rural divide from 24 points in 2005 to 18 points in 2012. Hand in hand, was the dip in Total Fertility Rate that saw a decline from 3.2 in 2000 to 2.4 in 2012. Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) similarly fell in the post National Health Mission period from 254 in 2004-06 to 178 in 2010-12. A change in government gave a much-needed impetus seen by the launch of the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) by Prime Minister Narendra Modi aimed at correcting regional imbalances in the availability of affordable healthcare services and to augment facilities for quality medical education in the country.
In first phase, six AIIMS will be set up — at Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Jodhpur, Patna, Raipur and Rishikesh. Two more AIIMS have been approved in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Simultaneously, 19 existing Government Medical College institutions will be upgraded to super speciality status in the first and second phases of PMSSY. It has also been decided to take up upgradation of 39 more medical colleges in the third phase of PMSSY, and 12 government medical colleges under the fourth phase.
Altogether 17 new medical colleges and eight new dental colleges have been established. There has been an increase in intake capacity: 2750 MBBS seats and 1120 BDS seats. With the intervention of the Minister for Health & Family Welfare, there has been renewal of 4747 seats restored in case of 73 Government Medical Colleges and increase in intake capacity of Postgraduate seats by 1150 seats.
The country’s first National Mental Health policy providing universal access to mental health care was launched in October 2014.
The year also saw war being declared by MoHFW against Japanese Encephalitis (JE) and Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES).
The Ministry launched a 100 per cent vaccination drive against JE in Muzaffarpur district of Bihar through a two-day camp on June 22-23. To combat AES, the Ministry removed all bottlenecks to set up facilities for concentrated care of patients in the government hospitals of the affected districts. On July 3, the Prime Minister announced expansion of India’s Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) to cover four more diseases – Rotavirus, Rubella, Polio and cases of Japanese Encephalitis covering 2.7 crore children and giving momentum to India’s aim of achieving Millennium Development Goal (MDG-4) targets that include reducing child mortality. A Kala Azar elimination drive on August 22 gave a new thrust to elimination of Kala Azar, endemic in Bihar, Jharkand, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. The new plan lists activities, timelines and responsibilities for elimination of Kala Azar by 2015.
Also on the hit list is elimination of Lymphatic Filariasis by 2015 with efforts targeted to achieve 80 per cent coverage of targeted population during Mass Drug Administration which has been launched in 250 endemic districts. Under NHM, there were significant improvements in health outcomes in terms of mortality rates as well as improvements in service delivery in health facilities. In recognition, the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has been increasing its support under NHM to state governments to strengthen their health systems.
Altogether Rs 21,700 crore worth of approvals were issued by the ministry to all states/UTs including approval of over 7,800 new infrastructure works and over two lakh human resource for health.
The Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK), a new initiative that seeks to reach adolescents in their own spaces and introduces peer-led interventions at the community level was launched on January 7, 2014 to cover 253 million adolescents in the country.
For strengthening the Central Drug Regulatory system, the revised outlay of Rs 1058.68 crore was given for strengthening of infrastructure of CDSCO to enable it in effectively discharging various functions of the Central Drug Regulatory System. An expert committee constituted under the chairmanship of Prof. Ranjit Roy Chaudhury to formulate policy and guidelines for approval of new drugs, clinical trials and banning of drugs has recommended accreditation of Ethics Committees, investigators and clinical trial sites and procedures to be followed and compensation.
The Government has accepted majority of the suggestions including protecting the rights of human subjects. A national survey will be conducted to assess the prevalence of spurious substandard drugs. Around 42,000 samples will be drawn from across the country including 15 therapeutic categories of drugs listed in National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), 2011.
Displaying determination to stub out the butt, the MoHFW Ministry notified new rules on tobacco packs bearing pictorial warnings from April 1, 2015. The rules mandate display of pictorial health warnings on 85 per cent of principal display area of tobacco packs on both sides. With this notification, India has moved from 136th rank to the 1st position on the global level for this important public health measure.
A committee constituted to review and suggest amendments to the Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products (prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003 (COTPA) has recommended more sweeping curbs on tobacco consumption. This includes prohibition of smoking in public places, advertisements at point of sale, minimum legal age for sale of tobacco products and bar on loose sale of tobacco products. In other developments, State NCD Cells were established in 26 states, district NCD cell established in 142 districts and district NCD Clinic established in 147 districts while Cardiac Care Units were established in 65 districts. To render services to underserved population, capital and operational costs of Mobile Medical Units are supported under NHM. Till date, 1,685 MMUs have been approved for 369 districts.
(AGENCIES)
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