Namaskar, Hon'ble Chief Minister of West Bengal Ms Mamata ji, my colleagues in the Union Cabinet Mansukh Mandaviya ji, Subhas Sarkar ji, Shantanu Thakur ji, John Barla ji and Nisith Pramanik ji, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari ji, members of the governing body of CNCI Kolkata, all the hardworking friends associated with the health sector, other dignitaries, ladies and gentlemen!

Today we have taken another step by reinforcing the national resolve to provide the best healthcare facilities to every citizen of the country. This second campus of the Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute has come up with significant facilities for many citizens of West Bengal. This will offer a huge relief especially to those poor and middle-class families whose kith and kin are battling cancer. Cancer-related treatments, surgeries and therapies will now be more accessible due to this modern hospital in Kolkata.

Friends,

Today, the country has crossed another important milestone. The country started the year with vaccination for children between the ages of 15 and 18. Today, in the first week of the first month of the year, India is also achieving the historic milestone of administering 150 crore or 1.5 billion vaccine doses. 150 crore vaccine dose in less than a year! This is a huge number in terms of statistics. It is no less than a surprise for most of the developed countries of the world, but for India, it is a symbol of the strength of 130 crore countrymen. For India, it symbolizes new willpower that has the courage to do anything to make the impossible possible. For India, this is a symbol of self-confidence, self-reliance and self-esteem! Today, on this occasion, I congratulate all the countrymen.

Friends,

Our vaccination program is as important in the fight against Corona as the dangerous disguised Coronavirus. Today, the world is once again facing a new variant of the Corona and that is Omicron. Cases are also increasing rapidly in our country due to this new variant. Therefore, this shield of 150 crore vaccine doses becomes very important to us. Today, more than 90 percent of India's adult population has received a single dose of the vaccines. More than 1.5 crore children have been vaccinated within just five days. This achievement belongs to the entire country, to every government. I especially thank the scientists, the vaccine manufacturers and our colleagues in the health sector for this achievement. It is through the collective efforts of everybody that the country has taken that resolution to the pinnacle, which we started from scratch.

Friends,

This spirit of ‘Sabka Prayas (everyone's effort) is giving strength to the country in the fight against the biggest pandemic of 100 years. This strength is visible everywhere today from building basic and critical infrastructure to fighting Covid, to the world's fastest, free-vaccination campaign. The speed with which we have developed such a huge infrastructure from testing to vaccination in our country with such geographical, economic and social diversity is an example for the entire world.

Friends,

Light becomes more important in the wake of dense darkness. Morale becomes more important when there are bigger challenges. And weapons become more important when the battle is difficult. So far, the government has provided about 110 million doses of corona vaccines free of cost to West Bengal. Bengal has also been given more than 1,500 ventilators and 9,000 new oxygen cylinders. Forty-nine new PSA oxygen plants have also started functioning. These will help the people of West Bengal in the fight against Corona.

Friends,

The statues of Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das ji and Maharshi Sushruta at the Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute campus are a great inspiration for all of us. Deshbandhu ji used to say – “I want to be born in this country again and again so that I can live for this country and work for it.”

Maharshi Sushruta is a reflection of ancient Indian knowledge in the field of health. With such inspirations, holistic efforts have been made in the last few years for complete solutions related to the health of the countrymen. Today, with the spirit of ‘Sabka Prayas’, the work of integrating the country's health infrastructure and health planning with national resolutions is accelerating. We are constantly working to tackle the challenges that exist in the health sector today as well as to secure the future. Attempts are being made to eliminate sources of the diseases. Our government is focusing on making treatment affordable and accessible in case of illness. At the same time, health services are being improved by expanding the capacity of doctors and medical infrastructure.

Friends,

Therefore, the country is accelerating preventive health, affordable healthcare, supply-side intervention, and mission mode campaigns to transform its health sector. Preventive health care is being promoted through Yoga, Ayurveda, Fit India Movement, Universal Immunization, etc. National schemes like the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ and ‘Har Ghar Jal’ are helping protect the village and poor families from many diseases. Water polluted by arsenic and other sources is also a major cause of cancer in many states of the country. The ‘Har Ghal Jal’ campaign is helping a lot in solving this problem.

Friends,

Our poor and lower-middle-class people were deprived of health facilities for a long time because treatment was either not accessible or it was very expensive. If the poor man was afflicted with a serious illness, he had only two options – to take a loan, sell his house or land or avoid the idea of ​​treatment. Cancer is such a disease that the poor and middle-class people start losing heart upon hearing its name. The country is constantly taking steps for affordable and accessible treatment to get the poor out of this vicious cycle and anxiety. Over the years, the cost of medicines needed to treat cancer has dropped significantly. Right now, Mansukh Bhai was also telling it in detail. In the more than 8,000 Jan Aushadhi centers that have been set up all over the country, including West Bengal, medicines and surgical supplies are being provided at very affordable prices. More than 50 cancer drugs are also available at these stores at very low prices. Special Amrit stores are also operating across the country to provide affordable medicines for cancer. This service spirit and sensitivity of the government is helping ensure the affordable treatment to the poor. The price of 500 medicines that the government has controlled is also saving patients more than Rs 3,000 crore every year. Citizens' money is being saved. Heart patients are saving more than Rs 4,500 crore every year due to price-fixing of coronary stents. The government's decision to reduce the price of knee implants has been of special benefit to our senior citizens, our elderly mothers, sisters and men. As a result, there is a saving of Rs 1,500 crore for elderly patients every year. Under the Prime Minister's National Dialysis Program, the government has provided free dialysis to 12 lakh poor patients. This has also saved them more than Rs 520 crore.

Friends,

Ayushman Bharat Yojana is becoming a global benchmark in terms of affordable and inclusive healthcare. Under the PM-JAY scheme, more than 2.6 crore patients across the country have undergone free treatment in hospitals. It is estimated that if these schemes were not in place, these patients would have to spend 50,000 to 60,000 crore rupees on their own treatment.

Friends,

Ayushman Bharat has also benefited more than 17 lakh cancer patients. These patients have got every facility in the hospital free of cost whether it is chemotherapy, radiotherapy or surgery. Imagine how many poor people's lives would be in danger or how many families would be stuck in a vicious cycle of debt if the government did not make these efforts.

Friends,

Ayushman Bharat is not just a means of free treatment, but it is also proving to be very effective in early detection and treatment. It is very essential for all serious diseases like cancer. Otherwise, in most cases, cancer was detected only in the last stage when it became incurable. In order to overcome this problem, emphasis is being laid on screening people over the age of 30 for diabetes, hypertension and cancer. Thousands of health and wellness centers being built in villages under the Ayushman Bharat Yojana are proving to be very useful. More than 5,000 such health and wellness centers have been set up in Bengal too. About 15 crore people across the country have been screened for oral, breast and cervical cancer. Thousands of health workers have been specially trained at the village level for the treatment of those who show symptoms after the screening.

Friends,

Another major problem of our health sector has been the huge gap between demand and supply. Whether it is doctors and other health professionals, efforts are being made on mission mode to fill this gap of demand and supply in the health infrastructure. By the year 2014, the number of undergraduate and postgraduate seats in the country was around 90,000. In the last seven years, 60,000 new seats have been added. We had only six AIIMS till 2014. Today, the country is moving towards a strong network of 22 AIIMS. Work is in progress to set up at least one medical college in every district of India. Facilities for the treatment of serious diseases like cancer are being added in all these institutes. Nineteen State Cancer Institutes and 20 Tertiary Care Cancer Centers have also been sanctioned to strengthen the cancer care infrastructure in the country. Work is in full swing at more than 30 institutions. In West Bengal also, treatment of cancer patients from Kolkata, Murshidabad and Bardhaman will be facilitated. Our Health Minister Mansukh Bhai has also described it in detail. All these efforts will have a huge impact on the availability of doctors in our country. There will be as many doctors over the next 10 years as we had in last 70 years.

Friends,

The two major national campaigns launched in the country last year will also help modernize the health sector of India. The Ayushman Bharat Digital Health Mission will increase the convenience of the countrymen in treatment. Digital records of medical history will make treatment easier and more effective; reduce the hassle of hospital visits for minor ailments, and also save citizens from the extra expenses on treatment. Similarly, the medical infrastructure related to critical healthcare will be accessible in big cities as well as at district and block levels under the Ayushman Bharat Infrastructure Mission. Under this scheme, West Bengal has also been assured of more than 2,500 crore rupees in the last five years. It will create hundreds of health sub-centers, about 1,000 urban health and wellness centers, dozens of district integrated public health labs, and the capacity of hundreds of critical care beds in district hospitals across the state. With such efforts, we will be able to deal with pandemics like Corona in a better way in the future. This campaign to make India healthy and capable will continue like this. I once again urge all citizens to be vigilant and take all necessary precautions. I once again thank everyone present at this event from the bottom of my heart. I wish you all the best. Thank you very much.

DISCLAIMER: This is the approximate translation of PM’s speech. Original speech was delivered in Hindi.

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DS/VJ/BM/VK