Govt revises strategy, to spend Rs 1290 crore on polio eradication

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

New Delhi, Feb 28 (UNI) In an all-out effort to eradicate polio from the country, the government has decided to provide Rs 1290 crore for the polio eradication programme, increase the number of pulse polio rounds and make intensive coverage in 30 high risk districts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Presenting the budget for 2007-08, Finance Minister P Chidambaram regretted that due to an outbreak to polio in Western Uttar Pradesh in early 2006, the goal of polio elimination by December 2007 could not be achieved.

In view of this the strategy to eradicate the crippling disease has been revised so as to incorporate the introduction of monovalent vaccines, increase the number of polio rounds and intensive coverage of 20 high risk districts of Uttar Pradesh and ten of Bihar where the maximum number of polio cases have come to light.

Moreover, the programme has been integrated with the National Rural Health Mission so that ASHAs and Anganwadi workers could visit every household and track every child for immunisation programmes, he said.

Mr Chidambaram also announced increasing allocation for the NRHM from Rs 8,207 crore in 2006-07 to Rs.9,947 crore in 2007-08.

However, it was much below Rs 15,000 crore demanded by the Health Ministry to improve basic health care facilities all over the country. He said District Health Action Plans all over the country would be completed by March 2007.

He said major emphasis would be on mother and child care and on prevention and treatment of communicable diseases like TB and Malaria. About 320,000 ASHAs have been recruited and over 200,000 have received training. Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH) systems were being mainstreamed into the health delivery system at all levels.

The allocation for HIV/AIDS control has been fixed at Rs 969 crore in 2007-08 when implementation of the third phase of the National AIDS Control Programme would begin, he said. Stating that the Government brought HIV/AIDS out of the closet and promised bold determined efforts to achieve zero-level growth of the disease.

The NACP-III would target high risk groups in all the States with more hospitals providing HIV/AIDS treatment to prevent the transmission of the virus from mother to child. Access of condoms will be expanded and universal access to blood screening and safe blood would be made, he said.

UNI

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