India's handling of Covid exemplifies best practices beyond doubt: VP Dhankar

Indias handling of Covid 19 was an example to the world as regards how the country utilised its digital resources to roll out vaccines for such a large population and successfully controlled the disease at home while extending a helping hand to other nations Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar said on FridayDhankhar who inaugurated the International Symposium on Health Technology Assessment ISHTA 2023 here lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modis proactive and timely decision of calling for a peoples curfew and the citizens following it so that what was advised to contain Covid could be translated into actionHe further said the prime minister cheered and motivated the Covid warriors and the country was quick to come up with a legislation that accorded them protectionIndias handling of Covid exemplifies the best practices beyond doubt now In that perspective when I have gone abroad on two visits how satisfying it was for me to note that when India was facing Covid it innovatively came out with vaccinesIndia could vaccinate 220 crore people and put it on digital mapping It was also giving assistance to other countries through vaccine maitri that is something reflective of our ageold ethos Dhankhar saidReferring to the sessions at the event he said affordability of healthcare services is a very critical aspectKeeping this in view the prime minister came up with the idea of Ayushman Bharat and the worlds largest and most transparent accountable and impactful mechanism is benefitting 140 crore people of the country effectively the vicepresident saidAlso readDelhi excise scam case ED seeks 10day custody of AAP leader Manish SisodiaHe said because of the Ayushman Bharat Jan Arogya Yojana there has been an increase in the number of diagnostic centres medical nursing colleges and clinics in the country and that has brought about a plateau kind of development touching the lives of those who are physically vulnerableIf they have to suffer on account of affordability the growth of children is impeded and families economy goes haywire Dhankhar addedSpeaking about another session on availability of healthcare technologies the vice president said technology is a game changer and a turning pointReferring to the third aspect accessibility to healthcare technologies he said We have wellness centres not just in tier2 cities in semiurban areas but even in villages and that is a milestone achievementOn the session on health technology assessment he said That is the way forward stance For any institution the safest way to degenerate is to keep it away from accountability keep it away from scrutiny and keep it away from assessmentThis international symposium on health technology is assessmentoriented and you will be critically assessing the situations that I am sure will go a long way in securing a world both of health and happiness the vice president saidThe symposium based on the theme of Affordability Availability and Accessibility of Healthcare Technologies through evidence generated by HTA for Universal Health Coverage was organised by WHO India and Centre for Global Development EuropeDhankhar further narrated how the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by the prime minister changed the countrys landscapeConsequentially what we never thought or imagined every household has a toilet We are on our way to getting fresh potable water at home and the sideeffects are such that there has been industrial growth startups and entrepreneurship have grown he saidHe said 15 lakh health and wellness centres have come up in the country generating huge opportunities for entrepreneurs and also proving to be a game changer as far as economic growth is concernedMentioning that more than 338 crore Ayushman Bharat health accounts have been created and there are 50 crore beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana Dhankhar said These numbers to the world at large may be staggering but in our country the development is proportionally manageable It has been in a very structured manner not in isolated instances or otherwiseAffordability of medicines for the common man is of critical consequence he said adding that this has been done through the more than 9000 jan aushadhi kendras set up across the country to enhance access to generic medicinesCancer is a deadly disease and what has been done in that area is amazing by providing medicines that are affordable the vice president pointed outIndia is an example in the world where we have used technology for making available efficient services to peopleThere was a time when I was a student or even a member of Parliament there used to be long queues for payment of bills But in the health sector revolutionary things have been done and over 80 million eight crore teleconsultations have been conducted through esanjeevani the national telemedicine service of India he saidThe vice president also complimented the Union health minister on doubling the number of MBBS seats and postgraduate medical seats in the countryStating that India is on the rise at the moment as never before and the rise of this country is unstoppable Dhankhar said this is based on two great concepts highlighted by the prime minister in the last year and a halfOne he gave a message to the world that we are not in an era of expansion Expansion by nature is invasive action Expansion by nature is comprising someone elses sovereignty Historically this country has never engaged in expansion he saidSecond he indicated to the world at large setting a global discourse which is catching up war is no solution to any problemDhankhar urge all the stakeholders that if we have to make this world healthy and happy we have to subscribe to an ecosystem and in all modesty I can say that this country has evolved this ecosystem over thousands of years and that is Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam the world is one familyLet us work to handhold each other to the best of our capacity to contribute to each others good health happiness and satisfaction 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