Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal Urges States To Focus On Implementation Of Ayush Health Programmes

New Delhi: The world is looking forward to holistic healthcare and today yoga and Ayush are hoisting their glory across the world, Union Ayush Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said on Thursday (February 15). The Union minister urged personally to the Ayush team of Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal to speed up the construction work of Ayush educational institutes at the earliest and make it functional, an official statement said. He requested the state governments to take up immediate steps for expediting construction works of approved integrated Ayush hospitals and make them functional at the earliest so that people can avail the Ayush services.

Also Read: Transgenders Benefited From Ayushman Bharat Jan Arogya Scheme: Government

Mr Sonowal made the remarks during a regional review meeting of six states – Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh – organised by the ministry of Ayush in Patna.

The Ayush ministry is supporting the efforts of state and UT governments for the implementation of different activities as proposed by them through their respective State Annual Action Plans (SAAPs) under the centrally-sponsored scheme of National Ayush Mission (NAM).

Mr Sonowal also appealed to the states to emphasise on the implementation of Ayush public health programmes as included in the NAM guidelines for providing various Ayush interventions to the community for holistic approach of health.

The NAM is being implemented with the vision and objectives to provide Ayush healthcare services throughout the country by strengthening and improving Ayush healthcare facilities and to provide informed choice to the needy public, the statement said.

The Union cabinet has approved operationalisation of 12,500 Ayush Health and Wellness Centres (AHWCs) by the ministry of Ayush through state and UT governments as a component of NAM by the year 2023-24.

The Ayush ministry has so far released Rs 1712.54 crore to seven states – Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal – under NAM since 2014-15, the statement said.

The ministry has also supported 58 integrated Ayush hospitals in the states till 2022-23 and out of that 14 are operational as reported by them. Out of 12,500 AHWCs, the ministry has already supported 4235 AHWCs in these seven states and out of that 3,439 have been reported to be functional by them.

Under NAM, the ministry has also supported setting up of a new Ayurvedic medical college at Ayodhya and a new Homoeopathic medical college at Varanasi, both in Uttar Pradesh, during 2022-23 and a yoga and naturopathy college at Howrah in West Bengal, the statement said.

Also Read: All Districts Will Be Converted Into ‘Ayushman’ Districts: Union Health Minister

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which in its Season 10 is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Ayushmann Khurrana. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In a world post COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental well-being, self-care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.