BENGALURU: In a morale booster to healthcare professionals in the state, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday appreciated “the efforts of the Karnataka government in handling the Covid-19 situation”. He condemned attacks on doctors in the past and warned mobs that violence, abuse and rude behaviour against Covid warriors is not acceptable. “Steps have been taken to protect you from any form of violence, and we have provided an insurance cover of Rs 50 lakh for those on the frontline,” he said, assuring healthcare workers.
Stressing the importance of technology in overcoming healthcare delivery issues, he said that doctors and other professionals need to discuss and achieve advances in telemedicine and evolve newer models to make it popular on a larger scale. Virtually addressing the 25th Foundation Day of the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, he said that the Arogya Setu mobile app has been downloaded by 12 crore people, which has helped the government in fighting Covid-19. Modi pointed out that the country has established four pillars of health over the last six years to improve the general health of the population.
“The first is preventive healthcare, with yoga, Ayurveda and general fitness. More than 40,000 wellness centres have been opened with the focus on controlling lifestyle-related diseases,” he said. The second pillar is the “success of Swacch Bharath Mission”, while the third is better medicare delivery. To improve the medical education infrastructure, postgraduate medical institutes will be set up in every district across the country. “We have established 22 more All-India Institutes of Medical Sciences,” Modi said.
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“Over the last five years, we have increased the number of medical seats by 30,000 and postgraduate seats by 15,000. This is by far the largest increase for any government in a five-year term since Independence,” Modi claimed. The new National Medical Commission, which has replaced the earlier Medical Council of India through legislation in Parliament, too will go a long way in improving the quality of medical education, bringing it on par with international standards, he said.
On the fourth pillar — “mission mode implementation”, he highlighted how the National Nutrition Mission has helped new mothers and youngsters. The Prime Minister said that his government is also working round-the-clock to eliminate tuberculosis by 2025. At the same time, the Mission Indradhanush has increased the rate of annual vaccinations.On the fight against Covid, he said, “Domestic manufacturers have supplied about 1 crore PPEs to covid warriors, while we have supplied 1.25 crore make in India N95 masks to all states.”