A recent report by the Medical Health and Family Welfare Department indicated that deaths from Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) and Japanese Encephalitis (JE) dropped by 90 per cent and 95 per cent, respectively, in Uttar Pradesh between 2017 and 2021.
At a presentation before Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the Medical Health and Family Welfare Department revealed that the total number of AES and JE cases had also declined during the period by 65 per cent and 78 per cent, respectively in encephalitis-prone districts like Gorakhpur, Deoria, Firozabad and Siddharthnagar.
The Yogi government has set up state-of-the-art paediatric intensive care units (PICUs) in Gorakhpur and Deoria and mobile medical units have been put into service to provide better and faster medical care to those suffering from these diseases.
As per the Medical Health and Family Welfare Department presentation, deaths from AES and JE dipped from 594 and 81 respectively in 2017 to 58 and 4 respectively in 2021, while the number of cases dropped from 4,758 and 677 to 1,664 and 148 respectively in the five-year period.
A top official said, "The Yogi government 2.0 is all set to launch the Zero Mission soon to eradicate vector-borne diseases like Japanese Encephalitis, dengue, malaria, typhoid, pneumonia and Zika virus. The state government also aims to eradicate tuberculosis (TB) by 2025."
Furthermore, the UP government plans to double the number of ambulances equipped with high quality life support systems and appoint 6,000 doctors and 10,000 paramedical staff shortly to improve healthcare across the state. Plans are also on the anvil to expand the network of Jan Aushadhi Kendras in the state so that people may get medicines at cheaper rates.
The Yogi government has made enough provisions in its budget for 2022-23 fiscal to improve healthcare across the state. For instance, the government has proposed Rs 5,395 crore for Rashtriya Gramin Swasthya Mission, Rs 1,300 crore for Ayushman Bharat Yojana, Rs 142 crore for Ayushman Bharat Mukhya Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, Rs 320 crore for Pradhan Mantri Matritva Vandana Yojana, Rs 1,073 crore for setting up diagnostic infrastructure in primary health care facilities, Rs 425 crore for urban health and Arogya Centres and Rs 54 crore for strengthening state drug control System.