Worried over unethical medical practices adopted by some doctors, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday called for a mechanism to ensure accountability among medical professionals and health officials in the public sector to restore faith of the people in the profession.
Chairing a high-level meeting on healthcare, the Prime Minister said that in order to achieve the desired goal of health for all, there is a need to substantially improve the efficiency of existing mechanisms and schemes. He also favoured establishing synergy in all schemes for the health sector being run by the Central and State Governments. The meeting was attended by Health Minister JP Nadda and many senior officials from the Ministry. Reviewing progress of key health indicators such as under-5 mortality rate and Maternal Mortality Ratio, the Prime Minister asked for specific identification of worst-performing districts, and even within them, particular blocks which required maximum attention.
He said these areas should be targeted in a two-pronged approach — prioritised health intervention, and appropriate social intervention to dispel local beliefs and customs that may be hindering progress, according to a statement here. “The Prime Minister said that animation films should be shown to women in health centres immediately post-delivery, to promote good health and nutrition habits. He also favoured simple technology interventions such as SMS to be used to reach ASHA workers across the country on a real-time basis,” the statement added.
The Prime Minister emphasised that the effects of Swachchhta Abhiyan should also become visible in hospitals and public health facilities across the country. Describing yoga as one of the most-effective preventive health mechanisms, the Prime Minister asked the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to draw up plans for International Yoga Day, on June 21. Expressing concern about the prevalence of diseases like encephalitis, especially among children, the Prime Minister asked officials to prepare a roadmap to tackle such diseases, just like natural disasters and other national calamities are tackled and work on linking individual health records to the Aadhar system, the statement said.