New Delhi, April 12: Assam has won the best performing state award for implementation of National Rural Health Mission among North Eastern States while Rajasthan adjudged as the best performing state among the High Focus States and Tamil Nadu claimed the award among other states category.
Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana were placed second in their respective categories in the awards which were given away by Vice- President Hamid Ansari on the occasion of completion of five years of NRHM here today.
Speaking on the occasion, Vice-President Mr Hamid Ansari emphasised that through the NRHM, the central government is facilitating the leadership of state governments in setting public health priorities and emphasising human resource and governance reforms.
He put forward five challenges for NRHM in the years ahead of which first was transition from curative to preventive health care while second was human resource management, third, setting of output and outcome targets, fourth was convergence as a powerful theme in the area of human development and inclusive growth. Fifth, approaches to public health must look at the different stages of health transition at state and district levels so that appropriate strategies could be adopted as the district is, and remains, the basic unit for all interventions under the Mission.
Health and Family Welfare minister Ghulam Nabi Azad announced change in focus and strategy in NRHM with a view to adopt an area centric and area specific approach to take Healthcare to the door steps of the people living in remote and undeserved areas.
Keeping this in view, the health ministry has asked States to identify difficult, most difficult and inaccessible areas so that additional monetary and human resource incentives could be provided to ensure availability of resident health workers in such areas.
Mr Azad also outlined the recent initiatives in the field of health human resource that will add 10,000 additional PG seats in next two years out of which 4000 seats have already been increased for the current academic year.
—Agencies