Union Health Minister lays Foundation Stone of Health -Projects in Uttarakhand

• 03 Apr 2023

Why in News?

On 31 March 2023, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare inaugurated a 500-bed hospital in Dehradun, Uttarakhand and three critical care blocks of 50 beds each laid the foundation stone at Rudraprayag, Nainital and Srinagar through virtual medium from Joshimath at a function organized in Dehradun.

Key Points

• Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare informed that the work of upgradation and strengthening of medical infrastructure under the 'Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission' (PM-ABHIM) is in progress and in the wake of the global COVID pandemic, Important work is being done under ECRP-II (Emergency COVID Response Package-II) with the objective of strengthening the medical units of the future keeping in mind the experiences.
• In order to work fast in the health sector of Uttarakhand government, 7 under PM-ABHIM scheme and 7 under ECRP-II i.e. total 14 critical care blocks are being constructed.
• Through these initiatives, better health facilities for emergency care will be easily available to people living in remote mountain areas.
• Critical care blocks at Rudraprayag and Nainital will be constructed under the ECRP-II package. At the same time, it will be constructed in Srinagar under the PM-ABHIM scheme.
• A total of Rs 71.25 crore has been sanctioned for 3 critical care blocks at Pauri in Srinagar, Rudraprayag and Haldwani in Nainital in coordination with the Government of India and the Government of Uttarakhand to ensure the general public's access to health facilities.
• An amount of Rs 23.75 crore has been sanctioned for the construction of each of these critical care blocks. These critical care blocks will be provided with facilities like ICU beds, HDU beds, isolation ward beds, isolation rooms, emergency beds, operation theaters, labor delivery rooms, combined care laboratories and dialysis rooms.
• To upgrade and strengthen the medical infrastructure in the state, the facility of 500 beds will be expanded in the Doon Medical College with an amount of Rs 120 crore. With this initiative, patients coming from remote areas would be able to get better treatment facilities in the state capital.
• On this occasion, State Health Minister Dhan Singh Rawat, underlining the progress made in the health sector of Uttarakhand, said that with more than 80,000 people registered on the 'E-Raktkosh blood donation portal', the people of Uttarakhand have donated the most blood in the country.
• More than 50 lakh ABHA cards have been issued to the people of the state and out of them more than 7 lakh people have availed this free treatment facility.
• Uttarakhand has become the first state in India to cover 100% TB patients under the Ni-Kshaya Mitra initiative in the fight against TB.