By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, OCT 21, 2024: UNION Minister for Health & Family Welfare and Chemicals & Fertilizers, J.P. Nadda inaugurated the "Medicine Update BJMFCON 2024", organized by the Bihar & Jharkhand Medical Forum (BJMF), here yesterday. As the chief guest at the event, Nadda also released the 'Souvenir and BJMF Directory'.

Bihar & Jharkhand Medical Forum (BJMF) is a socio-scientific organization of doctors from the states of Bihar & Jharkhand practicing in the Delhi NCR Region for long and serving the people of the region. The first Medicine Update was held in 2023. The 2nd Medicine Update BJMFCON was held yesterday.

Addressing the BJMFCON 2024, Nadda stated that "I am delighted to know that BJMF takes its socio, academic and scientific program ahead. You all have not just become doctors for yourself but also have given back to society. United efforts have been made by you to ensure outreach to society while also enlightening yourself through such conferences, continued medical education, seminars, group discussions, and panel discussions conducted by the BJMF."

Highlighting the government's efforts in transforming the health landscape of the country, Nadda stated that "under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the government is taking steps to ensure high quality and affordable healthcare facilities to all" and "is committed to implementing a comprehensive health policy that provides holistic, inclusive, preventive, promotive, curative, palliative and rehabilitative care to all."

Underlining the government's efforts on preventive aspects of healthcare and early detection of diseases in the country, he stated that, "there are 1.73 lakh high-quality Ayushman Arogya Mandirs in India that go through a digital high-quality assessment. Out of the total Ayushman Arogya Mandirs in India, 10,716 are in Bihar with a footfall of 8.35 crore and 4.36 crore non-communicable disease (NCD) screenings, while there are 3,825 Ayushman Arogya Mandirs in Jharkhand with a footfall of 2.33 crore and 2.12 crore NCD screenings."

Highlighting the strides made in mother and child health, he stated that "institutional deliveries increased from 78.9% to 88.6% in first 5 years of Modi Government", Nadda stated that "the infant mortality rate (IMR) has declined in the country. IMR in India was 28 per 1000 live births in 2020.  In Bihar, it came down from 42 to 27 in 2020, and in Jharkhand, from 34 to 25 in 2020. The under 5 Mortality Rate was 32 per 1000 live births in India in 2020. In Bihar, it came down from 53 to 30 in 2020 and from 44 to 27 in 2020, in Jharkhand."

He further added that "from 387 before 2014 to 766, an increase of 98% in the number of medical colleges has been ensured under the Prime Minister's leadership. 157 District hospitals were converted to medical colleges out of which 8 were in Bihar in Purnia, Saran, Samastipur, Jhajharpur, Siwan, Buxar, and Jamui. 5 of these were in Jharkhand in Dumka, Hazaribagh, Palamu, Chaibasa, and Kodarma." He emphasized that "the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) is being redeveloped into Asia's second-largest hospital."

He added that "The number of MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) seats has seen an increase of 125% i.e. from 51,348 before 2014 to 1,15, 412. While there has been an increase of 134% in postgraduate (PG) seats from 31,185 before 2014 to 73,111."

He also highlighted that "under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) to correct regional imbalances in the availability of affordable/ reliable tertiary healthcare services and also to augment facilities for quality medical education in the country new All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) will be opened up in Patna and Darbhanga in Bihar and at Deoghar in Jharkhand." He also added that "under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), the world's largest health insurance scheme, Rs. 86,797 crores worth of treatment has been authorized. As part of its commitment to senior care, the government has extended Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY to all seniors aged 70 and above which facilitates them accessing up to Rs 5 lakh of healthcare benefits."

He commended the healthcare providers "for their relentless efforts to ensure the accessibility of healthcare services even in the remotest areas of the country" and highlighted their efforts and service during the COVID-19 pandemic. He concluded his remarks by thanking the doctors for their contribution to providing healthcare to the people and ensuring the achievements of the government in this direction and urged the participants of the programme to come up with concrete recommendations for improving healthcare facilities in the country.