Prime Minister Narendra Modi who on Friday virtually inaugurated the second campus of Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute (CNCI) in Kolkata from here cautioned people against laxity in view of the rising cases of Covid 19 and Omicron cases across the country.
Addressing the gathering on the occasion, the Prime Minister reiterated his appeal to people to ‘take every precaution in the fight against Corona’. He also said the country had achieved the historic milestone of 150 crore vaccine doses in less than one year. He termed it a “significant achievement and symbol of a new will power of the country.”
The Prime Minister said so far, about 11 crore doses of the corona vaccine have been provided free of cost to West Bengal by the government.
“More than one and a half thousand ventilators, more than 9 thousand new oxygen cylinders have also been provided to Bengal. 49 PSA new oxygen plants have also started functioning in the state, the Prime Minister informed,” he said.
Modi further said, “The country started the year with vaccination for children in the age group of 15 to 18 years. At the same time, India is also achieving the historic milestone of 150 crore – 1.5 billion vaccine doses, in the first week of the first month of the year itself.” He said, “150 crore doses in less than one year is a significant achievement and symbol of a new willpower of the country.”
“The new campus will go a long way in providing affordable and state of the art care to the people of West Bengal especially to the poor and middle-class families. “In the journey of the pledge to make best medical care available to each and every citizen of the country, we have taken another strong step,” the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister referred to another central government healthcare scheme “The Ayushman Bharat scheme which he said is “becoming a global benchmark in terms of affordable and inclusive healthcare.” He said under PM-JAY, more than 2 crores 60 lakh patients have received free treatment in hospitals across the country.”
Modi said today, more than 90 percent of India’s adult population has received a single dose of the vaccine. Within just 5 days, more than 1.5 crore children have also been given the dose of the vaccine. He dedicated this achievement to the whole country and every government. He especially thanked the scientists of the country, the vaccine manufacturers and the people in the health sector for this achievement.
PM Modi said that in order to transform the health sector of the country, mission mode campaigns for Preventive Healthcare, Affordable Healthcare, Supply Side intervention are being accelerated. “Yoga, Ayurveda, Fit India Movement, Universal Immunisation are strengthening the Preventive Healthcare. Similarly, Swachh Bharat Mission and Har Ghar Jal schemes are contributing to better health outcomes,” he added.
The Prime Minister also said how his government was taking steps towards providing medical treatment accessible for the poor, especially the treatment of cancer. He said people were scared of the financial implications of getting cancer treatment.
“To get the poor out of the vicious circle that the disease causes, the country is taking continuous steps for cheap and accessible treatment. The prices of medicines needed for the treatment of cancer have come down significantly in the last few years, he said. More than 8 thousand Jan Aushadhi Kendras are providing medicines and surgical at very affordable rates. More than 50 cancer drugs are available at much lower cost in these stores,” Modi said.
Modi said his government is sensitive to the needs of the patients and price regulation of more than 500 medicines is saving more than 3000 crore rupees annually. Heart patients are saving more than 4500 crore every year due to regulated prices of the coronary stents, reduced costs of knee implants are helping the senior citizens by saving their 1500 crore rupees every year. 12 lakh poor patients have received free dialysis facilities under the Prime Minister National Dialysis Programme, he said.
About the Ayushman Bharat healthcare scheme, the Prime Minister said it is becoming a global benchmark in terms of affordable and inclusive healthcare. “Under PM-JAY, more than 2 crore 60 lakh patients have received free treatment in hospitals across the country. Estimates say that in the absence of the scheme, patients would have ended up spending 50 to 60 thousand crore rupees. More than 17 lakh cancer patients also benefited under Ayushman Bharat scheme,” he said.
Modi said the Ayushman Bharat scheme is also promoting early detection and early treatment of serious diseases through regular screening of diseases like cancer, diabetes and hypertension. Health and wellness centres that are coming up are helping in this campaign. More than 5 thousand such centres have been created in West Bengal also. More than 15 crore people have been screened for oral, cervical and breast cancer in the country, the Prime Minister informed.
The Prime Minister also claimed that in the last seven years of his government at the centre 60 thousand new medical seats had been added in the country. Till 2014, the number of undergraduate and postgraduate medical seats in the country was around 90,000. “In the last 7 years, 60,000 new seats have been added to them. In 2014, we used to have only 6 AIIMS and today the country is moving towards a strong network of 22 AIIMS,” he said.
Modi said work is going on to ensure at least one medical college in every district of India. Cancer care infrastructure will get a boost by 19 state cancer institutes, 20 tertiary care cancer institutes have been sanctioned and work is on for more than 30 institutes. Similarly, Ayushman Bharat Digital Health Mission and Ayushman Bharat Infrastructure Mission will give the country’s health sector a modern form, he added.