JP Nadda has been made the Health Minister in PM Modi's third term. He has also been the Health Minister during Modi's first term. Apart from this, this time Nadda has also been given the responsibility of the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers. In the first term, Nadda launched Mission Indradhanush which was appreciated all over the world. What kind of challenges will he face in the Health Ministry this time?
The portfolios of the ministers in the new government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi have been announced. No changes have been made in the important departments of the government. Amit Shah has once again been given the responsibility of the Home Ministry. The departments of Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari will remain the same as in the previous cabinet. However, an important change has taken place in the Health Ministry.
BJP's national president JP Nadda has once again been given the command of the Health Ministry. 63-year-old JP Nadda was also the Health Minister in PM Modi's first term. In 2019, he was made the national president of BJP. Apart from health, this time Nadda has also been given the responsibility of the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers. Before Nadda, Mansukh Mandaviya was in this post.
The two health experts we spoke to view Nadda's track record in a positive light. They believe that the government has taken a good step by giving this ministry to JP Nadda. Nadda will not only face a lot of challenges but also have the opportunity to complete those tasks which are considered important for the health of the country.
Mission Indradhanush was praised all over the world
In his first term, JP Nadda launched 'Mission Indradhanush'. Its aim was to cover all the children by 2020 who were not vaccinated against seven vaccine-preventable diseases including diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, tuberculosis, measles, hepatitis B.
It is said that the Prime Minister used to review Mission Indradhanush regularly and it is considered one of his favourite projects. So much good work was done under Mission Indradhanush that in the progress review meeting in May, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reduced the deadline for achieving the 90 percent coverage target of this scheme from 2020 to 2018. It was also appreciated all over the world.
J.P. Nadda launched India's first pharmacy retail store. Its name was AMRIT i.e. Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment. The purpose of launching it was to make medicines for cancer and heart diseases available at 60 to 90 percent of the current market rates. The pharmacy would also provide heart implants which were to be sold at a discount of 50 to 60 percent.
The first attack on incurable diseases
In the manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections 2024, the BJP's manifesto says that existing health services will be expanded to prevent breast cancer, cervical cancer, anemia and osteoporosis. In which the focus will be on eliminating cervical cancer.
So it will be interesting to see how and at what pace the vaccination program for HPV i.e. Human Papilloma Virus will be taken forward. HPV is responsible for cervical cancer in women, which is considered to be the biggest cause of cancer deaths among women in India.
Infectious disease specialist Ishwar P Gilada says that TB control should be monitored closely because the government has set a target of becoming TB free by 2025. 2025 is less than a year away. To achieve this target, Nadda will have to work on a war footing.
Not only this, diseases like cancer, diabetes, hepatitis B, HIV AIDS are also increasing continuously in India. It is necessary to review the programs being run for the prevention of these diseases so that new cases can be controlled.
BJP's biggest focus will be on Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana. The scheme was launched in September 2018. Under the scheme, every family is given health coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh every year to take care of low-income people across the country. This scheme gets funding from both the central government and the state.
By January this year, the target of distributing 30 crore Ayushman cards across the country has been achieved. Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of cards issued to 4.83 crore people. Madhya Pradesh is second and then Maharashtra. BJP had promised in its manifesto that if it is re-elected, this scheme will be expanded to cover senior citizens and transgenders.
Five suggestions for the next five years
Director of Public Health Institute, Dilip Mavlankar says that if the goal of developed India is to be achieved by 2047, then the government will have to correct every small and big flaw in the health system. For this, Dilip Mavlankar has given five suggestions.
First, we should move towards spending 3% of GDP on health. So far India spends only around 1.8%. An expert committee should be formed in this regard which includes finance minister, economist and all states. 3 A road map should be prepared in four months as to where this money will come from and where it will be spent in the next five years. This will bring a big change in the public system.
Second , the primary health system has to be strengthened. Apart from ASHA workers, even today there is no full-time trained health worker in the villages. The target in the next 5 years should be to appoint a government-funded nurse in every village. According to Dilip Mavalankar's estimate, all this will cost around Rs 30,000 crore, which is not a big amount for the Indian government. The benefit of this will be that we will be able to proudly say that after 75 years of independence, a person does not have to go from the village to a big city for basic health care.
Third- There is a need to put a lot of emphasis on reducing the burden of expensive medicines on poor people. For this, the quantity of generic medicines will have to be increased. Efforts should be made to open a medicine shop in every village where cheap medicines are sold. This will ensure that a poor person will not have to go outside to buy medicines.
Fourth- Opening new medical colleges is a good thing. But the quality of the doctors who are passing out should also be monitored. That is, will that doctor be able to treat people in the village, how should they be encouraged to treat people in the village, etc. Health human resource management in India is currently in a very bad condition. To improve this, a commission needs to be formed which plans how many doctors and nurses are needed in the next 50 years.
Fifth- The Health Minister should take out at least one day in a year so that he can listen to the problems of the NGOs and doctors working at the ground level. What problems do they face, what kind of improvements do they want. He should even take the opinion of the patients who get treatment in government hospitals. These suggestions can be given importance while preparing the budget.
Quality of medicines will be monitored
Nadda's work will become more difficult after being given the additional charge of the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers. The government has given him this responsibility after careful consideration. There has been a tussle between the two ministries for a long time.
While the Department of Pharmaceuticals is under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, the regulations governing the industry are under the Drugs Controller General of India, which is a part of the Ministry of Health. Given the delays on key policy issues, the industry has been demanding a single authority that can handle both sides. Under Nadda's leadership, this may become a reality.
This is also important because India lacks regulatory oversight. In the last few months, several cases have come to light in which it is said that the medicines being manufactured in India are of poor quality. One of the challenges before Nadda will be to improve the quality of medicines exported abroad by Indian companies. For this, strict policies will have to be implemented and his legal background can be useful in this because he understands its complexity in detail.
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