Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya inaugurates three-day “Swasthya Chintan Shivir” at Kevadia, Gujarat

Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya presided over the 14^th Conference of Central Council of Health & Family Welfare (CCHFW), an apex advisory body of Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW), named as “Swasthya Chintan Shivir”, at Kevadia, Gujarat today in the presence of Shri Bhupendrabhai Patel, Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Brajesh Pathak, Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare and Dr. V.K. Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog.

Health Ministers and Lieutenant Governor of 19 States and UTs are participating in the 3-day conference. They are Admiral D. K. Joshi, Lieutenant Governor, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Shri Alo Libang, Health Minister, Arunachal Pradesh, Shri Keshab Mahanta, Health Minister, Assam, Shri Mangal Pandey, Health Minister, Bihar, Shri Rushikesh Patel, Cabinet Health Minister, Gujarat, Smt. Nimishaben Suthar, Health Minister of State, Gujarat, Shri Banna Gupta, Health Minister, Jharkhand, Dr. K Sudhakar, Health Minister, Karnataka, Smt. Veena George, Health Minister, Kerala, Dr. Prabhuram Choudhary, Health Minister, Madhya Pradesh, Shri Vishwas Sarang, Health Minister (ME), Madhya Pradesh, Shri Rajesh Tope, Health Minister, Maharashtra, Dr. Sapam Ranjan Singh, Health Minister, Manipur, Shri James P. K. Sangma, Health Minister, Meghalaya, Dr. R. Lalthangliana, Health Minister, Mizoram, Shri S Pangnyu Phom, Health Minister, Nagaland, Dr. Vijay Singla, Health Minister, Punjab, Shri Mani Kumar Sharma, Health Minister, Sikkim, Shri Thiru. Ma. Subramanian, Health Minister, Tamil Nadu and Dr. Dhan Singh Rawat, Health Minister, Uttarakhand. Shri K Lakhsminarayanan, Hon’ble Minister for Public Works, Puducherry was also present in the gathering.

The objective of the three-day conference is to review the implementation of policies and programmes relating to medical and public health sectors and to recommend ways and means for better implementation of these policies/programmes for benefit of the common people.

Dr Mandaviya started his address by stating that “the Statue of unity, a symbol of "Ekta" represents India's federal structure, working in a well-aligned democracy”. He expressed his optimism that “this summit, organized to do “chintan” on Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav will provide us a collective and collaborative vision of the central and state govts and a roadmap for the next 25 years - the Amrit Kal of India's Independence”. He further stated that “this Chintan Shivir is the best example of federal democracy. Best practices from various states should be implemented at the national level. This is a platform for learning from each other.”

Underscoring the importance of moving forward with a holistic approach in the spirit of cooperative federalism, Dr Mandaviya reminded the audience that “when the world is still grappling with COVID, India under the leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister has shown the world how the pandemic can be successfully managed. It is only through the joint and holistic efforts of the Centre and the States that we have tackled the COVID19 pandemic”.

Dr Mandaviya informed that the Centre and States are increasing their health budgets so that affordable healthcare can be made available to all. He highlighted that through PM-ABHIM, Govt of India has allotted Rs. 64,180 Cr. for strengthening public health infrastructure across all states/UTs while the overall health budget in the last 6-7 years increased from Rs. 37,000 Cr to Rs. 86,000 Cr.

Praising India’s COVID warriors and frontline workers, Dr Mandaviya noted that “the entire world is appreciating India’s COVID management model and vaccination drive. “To achieve 1^st dose coverage of vaccines for 95% of all adults is hugely commendable”, he stated.

Shri Bhupendrabhai Patel expressed his elation at the Statue of Unity, Kevadia being chosen for this national conference, stating that “there cannot be a better place for this national conference”. He stated that Hon’ble Prime Minister’s philosophy of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Prayas’ has strengthened India’s resolve to collectively fight the COVID19 pandemic.

Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar noted that this three-day Chintan Shivir will bring out focused discussions on the health challenges in the times ahead and the best practices to overcome them. She stressed on the need for innovation and policies for providing high quality services to people and community at the ground level. “We have to work on how to turn challenges into opportunities and becoming ‘Atma Nirbhar’ in the health sector”, she stated.

Addressing the gathering, Dr. V.K. Paul noted that today is a historic day as this manthan will help us to refocus and reorient the health ecosystem in the country for the benefit of all. He noted that this summit provides a perfect platform to learn from each other and work towards ensuring accessible and affordable health care for all. He stated that “COVID taught us to work together and future health systems should be based on our learnings from COVID. An India based global Health systems should be our objective where service delivery, information system, monitoring and public participation would form a vital part”. He also gave an overview of how India should further aim to revitalise the National Health Mission.

On the occasion of Chintan Shivir, the Union Health Minister released the National Report of the fifth round of National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) and the Rural Health Statistics Publication for year 2020-21. The NQAS (Net Quality Assurance Standards) portal of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and Pradhan Mantri National Dialysis portal was launched at the event.

Shri Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary, Dr Balram Bhargava, DG, ICMR, Dr. Randeep Guleria, Director AIIMS New Delhi and other senior officials of the Health Ministry and States were also present in the meeting.