With plans to move healthcare in India from merely disease management to a preventive and promotional model, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare JP Nadda talks about the National Health Policy and various other initiatives taken by his ministry..
What are your plans for immunisation cover for children across India?
Our pilot project Mission Indradhanush has been successful. The current total immunisation cover is 7 per cent, but we want to bring it to 19 per cent. We have already added 11 vaccines such as rota virus, rubella, JE adults etc, and plan to add more. Three phases of Mission Indradhanush have been completed till December 2016 covering 497 districts across 35 State and Union territories.
How are you planning to make affordable medicines available for all?
That is our main objective, especially the poor and the disadvantaged. A countrywide campaign for ensuring availability of generics at affordable prices for all, under the project title "Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Yojana (PMJAY)", was initiated by the Department of Pharmaceuticals in association with Central Pharma Public Sector Undertakings.
This is very successful. In the last one year, around 60-90 per cent affordability of medicines has increased.
How does involving private players help in providing quality healthcare?
We have this idea that the private sector should share the responsibility of providing healthcare with government. The national dialysis care programme is running successfully. So far, around 2319 dialysis machines are functional and in the past 9 months we have already taken over 11 lakh patients for dialysis.
How does your ministry plan to tackle increasing burden of non-communicable diseases?
Our aim is to have a comprehensive healthcare plan. We have already started universal screening of hypertension, diabetes, cervical cancer, breast cancer and oral cancers that are most prevalent.
Key remarks
Our pilot project Mission Indradhanush has been successful. The current total immunisation cover is 7 per cent, but we want to bring it to 19 per cent.
Our aim is to have a comprehensive healthcare plan. We have already started universal screening of hypertension and diabetes, etc
