Swasthya Chintan Shivir: Union Health Minister urges states to increase healthcare spending

Dehradun: ''Swasthya Chintan Shivir, a national meeting, enables sharing of insights, best practices, valuable experiences, and suggestions from various states to enrich our policies aimed at designing schemes for largest beneficiary welfare.'' 

This was stated by Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare Dr Mansukh Mandaviya as he inaugurated a two-day-long Swasthya Chintan Shivir- the 15th Conference of Central Council of Health and Family Welfare, in Dehradun today.

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He was joined by the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Shri Pushkar Singh Dhami, the Chief Minister of Sikkim, Shri Prem Singh Tamang, Union Ministers of State for Health Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar, and Prof. SP Singh Baghel, and Dr VK Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog.

Health Ministers including Shri Dhan Singh Rawat (Uttarakhand), Smt.Rajini Vidadala (Andhra Pradesh), Shri Alo Libang (Arunachal Pradesh), Shri Keshab Mahanta (Assam), Shri Rushikesh Patel (Gujarat), Shri Banna Gupta (Jharkhand), Shri Dinesh Gundu Rao (Karnataka), Shri Sapam Ranjan Singh (Manipur), Dr R. Lalthyangliana (Mizoram), Shri Thiru Ma. Subramanian (Tamil Nadu) are participating in the brainstorming conclave.

Shri TS Singh Deo (Deputy Chief Minister, and Health Minister, Chhatisgarh), Shri Brajesh Pathak (Deputy Chief Minister, and Health Minister, Uttar Pradesh), Shri BS Pant (Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation, Sikkim), Shri Vishwas Sarang (State Medical Education Minister, Madhya Pradesh), Shri K Lakshmi Narayanan (Minister of Public Works, Puducherry) are also participating in the event.

In his inaugural address, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya underlined the focus of the deliberative forum, as he said, “This Chintan Shivir can provide us with an opportunity to deep dive into different issues of health sector.” He further spoke on the future of healthcare in India and said, “In this Amrit Kaal, let us take ‘prerna’ (inspiration) from our own knowledge, and develop our own health model. We should resolve to remove burden of diseases such as Leprosy, TB, Sickle Cell Anaemia etc., from various states, and saturate states with PM-JAY cards.”

He further encouraged participants to share their ideas, so best results can be derived from Swasthya Chintan Shivir and hoped that the two-day event will deliver outcomes that will go a long way in providing healthcare solutions to the nation.

Shri Pushkar Singh Dhami, Chief Minister of Uttarakhand welcomed everyone to Uttarakhand and expressed confidence that the deliberations will help to provide definite focus to speedy implementation of government’s health policies. At the event, he praised Atal Ayushman Yojana which is providing health security to poor and needy sections of the country. “E-sanjeevani has contributed in a big way to expanding the scope of health services through use of technology.”, he further stated.

He further spoke of the role of “One Earth, One Health” framework, and said, “This framework guides us forward in our collaborated effort to achieve shared goals.”

Shri Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary, gave an overview of the sessions for the next two days which will cover various facets of healthcare in India today. Various books including Compendium of Best Practices, Ayushman Bharat, Health and Wellness Centres- Success Stories from the Field, Research to Action-The Insights and Policy implications, and Recommendations for Medical Rehabilitation of Persons Injured after an Earthquake were released at the inaugural event.

Shri Sudhansh Pant, Officer on Special Duty, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Dr Rajiv Bahl, Secretary, Department of Health Research, as well as other senior officials from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and States, were present during the event.