PM urges states to pay adequate attention to health

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh today urged all the State Governments to pay adequate attention to health care issues and ensure efficient functioning of public health services.

New Delhi, June 5 : Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh today urged all the State Governments to pay adequate attention to health care issues and ensure efficient functioning of public health services.

The Prime Minister said that there was a need for greater investment in medical education, including nursing, especially in States where there was an acute shortage of seats in nursing and medicine. Dr Singh was chairing a meeting here to take stock of the implementation of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).

The Prime Minister said that he would convene a special meeting of the National Development Council (NDC) to discuss issues relating to health care, disease control and public health.

The Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Anbumani Ramadoss presented a detailed outline on action taken till now and identified three categories of States in terms of the implementation of the mission.

The best performing States so far have been identified as Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu and Tripura.

The average performing States have been identified as Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Punjab and Uttarkhand.

The States, which have so far not performed well in the implementation of NRHM programmes, are Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Manipur, Nagaland and Uttar Pradesh.

ANI