India: Govt looking to vaccinate country’s entire adult population by year-end

NEW DELHI, (PTI): More than 99 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in India and the government has set a target of vaccinating the country’s entire adult population by the end of the year, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Bharati Pravin Pawar said on Wednesday.

While virtually addressing the FICCI’s ”Healthcare Excellence Awards” ceremony, Pawar informed that under the ‘Make in India’ initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi “India is one of the leading countries in the global medical devices market in the world.”

Detailing the success amid challenges posed by COVID-19, the Union minister said, ”More than 99 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the country and the government has set a target of vaccinating the country’s entire adult population by end of the year.” The minister thanked the dignitaries present at the event and expressed her appreciation for the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) for contributing immensely to the COVID-19 response in close coordination with the Empowered Groups, central and state governments.

Speaking on the occasion, Pawar said a “great responsibility lies on us to achieve the Prime Minister’s dream of achieving affordable, accessible, safe and modern health care in India.” She further said, “the Government of India launched various nationwide programs for prevention, control, and eradication of communicable and non-communicable diseases and improvement of maternal and child health”.

The minister highlighted that in working towards the goal of achieving universal health coverage, the government launched the world’s largest publicly funded health care program, the ‘Ayushman Bharat Mission’.

She added that the scheme has been expanded to include the Digital Health Mission that aims to converge the various components of the health care ecosystem on one platform for seamless integration and better health outcomes.

Pawar informed that the government has also launched numerous financial support schemes over the past couple of years for creating the appropriate environment for growth as well as augmenting the public-private infrastructure of hospitals and public-funded labs across the country.

The National Medical Commission and Paramedical Council have been key achievements in the field of medical education, she said.

The minister also informed that India’s health indicators have shown consistent improvement in the past decade. She noted that “relentless efforts of the Central government have resulted in the launching of various nationwide programs for prevention, control, and eradication of communicable and non-communicable diseases and improvement of maternal and child health.” (PTI)