New Delhi, Oct 28 (IANS): Union Health Minister Mansukh L. Mandaviya on Wednesday announced that "Har Ghar Dastak" campaign to start soon in the poor-performing districts to enthuse and motivate people towards full Covid vaccination.
After a meeting with states Health Ministers at Vigyan Bhawan here, the Minister said that under the campaign, health workers will go door to door to vaccinate people eligible for the second dose and also for those who have not taken yet their first dose, for the next one month.
Highlighting the need to accelerate the pace and coverage of vaccination, he stated that there are more than 10.34 crore people in the country who have not taken the second dose after the prescribed interval.
Mandaviya said that adequate vaccine doses were available in the country, and more than 12 crore unutilised doses are available with the states.
"No district should be without full vaccination," he told the states.
"Let us aim to cover all eligible with 1st dose of Covid-19 vaccine by end-November 2021," he said, urging the states to draw up regional and local level plans with all the stakeholders to reduce number of people overdue for vaccinatio.
He also urged for innovative strategies to encourage them to achieve their targets to review the planning and execution of district-wise plans for coverage of due beneficiaries of 2nd dose as available on Co-WIN portal.
"Covid has given us the opportunity to analysis the gaps in our existing health infrastructure. We have also learned that in a federal democracy, the Centre and states working in a synchronized collaborative mode can achieve significant milestones," Mandaviya said.
Highlighting PM Narendra Modi's vision about recently launched Health Infrastructure Mission, he said that with an outlay of Rs 64,180 crore, PM-AB HIM, announced in the Budget 2021-22, is the largest pan-India Health Infrastructure Scheme and would provide a much-needed fillip to India's capacity to address emergent public health issues.
This will give a major boost to India's healthcare infrastructure and make it more resilient, he added.
He urged the States to make strategies for timely utilisation of the allocated funds under the new Mission.
Mandaviya also requested his state counterparts to ensure that plans and implementation schedules for the ECRP-II are reviewed for timely completion of the proposed initiatives and schemes.
About India's philosophy of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family)', he said that India's pharma sector is fulfilling this philosophy by catering to people with new cost-effective treatments and vaccines. "India supplied essential drugs to the world during first wave of Covid. The world reciprocated and helped India during the second wave," he said.
Mandaviya assured the Health Ministers that the Centre will extend all support and assistance to the states/UTs in matters of health. "In a federal democracy, the Centre and states form a collaborative platform. We should work as a team for ensuring Swastha Bharat, Samruddh Bharat," he said.
Minister of State for Health Bharti Pravin Pawar was also present in the meeting, along with Health Ministers from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, and Jharkhand.