Novel drive planned to assess the healthcare sector in Assam

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The State government will conduct a 'Health Festival' across Assam within the next two months along the lines of the 'Gunotsav' of the Education Department.

The exercise will entail evaluation of government healthcare centres from the sub-centre level upwards.

This was disclosed by Health Minister Keshab Mahanta while inaugurating a two-day workshop on 'Covid adaptive strengthening of routine immunization through differential approach' at the Assam Administrative Staff College at Khanapara here on Friday. The workshop has been organized by the Directorate of Health Services (Family Welfare) with the support of the National Health Mission (NHM), Assam.

Speaking on the occasion, Mahanta said that the 'Health Festival' will be organized in accordance with a directive of the Chief Minister. The event will assess the infrastructure, quality of treatment, road connectivity etc., of all government healthcare institutions across the state.

The Health Minister said that teams will be formed for the purpose which will comprise officials of the Health Department, doctors and officials of other departments. The teams will visit various healthcare/hospitals and prepare their respective reports based on their findings. These reports will enable the government to get a better idea of the problems faced by each individual institution, Mahanta said, adding that this will facilitate future planning for the development of the government-run health sector.

Mahanta further informed that the government has decided to also involve postgraduate students of various medical colleges in the assessment exercise.

It may be mentioned that the workshop has been organized in view of the fact that normal vaccination programmes of the government, especially those involving children, were adversely affected due to the Covid pandemic. The workshop, which is being attended by doctors and other staff associated with immunization programmes along with representatives from the UNDP, WHO and UNICEF, aims to provide a fresh impetus to routine vaccination programmes.

In this regard, the Health Minister called for joint efforts by the Health Department and NHM to bring the immunization programmes back on track. He said that vaccination is important because healthy children constitute an asset to the nation.

He said that a special drive will be held in October to expedite routine immunization.

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