Union Health minister JP Nadda said that the Union government was aware of the menace of Encephalitis which was snuffing life out of children with impunity in eastern UP and was taking steps to deal with the challenge.
“The Union Government is doing its part. We provide financial and technical support to the states. But health is essentially a state subject and the role of implementation thus remains with the states,” Nadda told party workers while leading the ‘Tiranga Yatra’ in lucknow on Friday.
Nadda said that the Centre has decided to set up an AIIMS in Gorakhpur which will go a long way in tackling the curse of Encephalitis. “Our fight against Encephalitis is on. The Union Government has started vaccination of children up to 15 years. We are ready to provide basic support but implementation of the schemes is the responsibility of the state,” he said.
The Health minister said that the Modi government has decided to make Encephalitis a ‘notifiable disease’ which means that its outbreak is legally required to be reported to the authorities.
Hitting out at the Akhilesh Yadav government, Nadda said that despite support from Central government, only 10 of the 20 Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) have been established in UP.
“Appointments of various staff and doctors have not been made despite repeated reminders. To control vector borne disease, the Union Government has given Rs 33.47 crore, but the state has used only Rs 17.50 crore,” he said.
“The Centre can give money for deployment of doctors. But deployment of doctors in the districts and remote areas are the state’s responsibility. The state needs to utilize Central funds in a prudent manner so that the benefits could reach the people,” the Union Health minister said.
Nadda said that the Union Government is working on a new scheme to give health insurance to the poor. People with income less than Rs 1 lakh per year would be covered under this scheme. They will get free treatment in state-run hospitals. Where treatment is not available money would be sent to the account of beneficiary,” he said.
“The NDA Government has also given swine health card to over 2 crore farmers for getting free treatment / medicines and also nutritious food,” the Union minister said.
He also declared that all big hospitals and medical colleges in the country would be connected through tele-medicine. “The Centre has planned to connect these from east to west and north to south through tele-medicine and take help of experts for treatment. We have started this at PGI Chandigarh from where doctors give advice to patients. It will also save time and money for the patients,” he said.
“On the initiative of the government, 5 million children are administered 7 types of vaccination but still 9 million children are left in this process. “We have decided to increase the number of vaccination to 11. This will include the nine million children who have been left out,” he said.
Earlier in the day Nadda went around historical places of city. At Residency, he was shown the area where Indians fought the first freedom struggle. “While I was moving around Residency I realized how valiantly the Indians had fought against the might of the British. I salute the grit and determination of our freedom fighters,” he said.
Nadda said, “Bharat is not just a mass of land. It is our Mata and we need to take her to new heights because our freedom fighters have sacrificed their lives for `aan’ and `shaan’ of Bharat Mata.”