Dr. V K Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog, inaugurated the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s Health Pavilion at the 43rd India International Trade Fair (IITF) at Bharat Mandapam, here today. Union Health Secretary, Smt. Punya Salila Srivastava was also present on the occasion. This year's pavilion is centered around the theme of ‘One Health’ – a comprehensive approach that emphasizes the interconnectedness of human, animal, plant, and ecosystem health.

Addressing the gathering, Dr Paul said, “the vision of the hon’ble Prime Minister towards Viksit Bharat also involves attaining the vision of Niramaya Bharat.” He said, “the last ten years have witnessed an ‘inflection point’ in improving the healthcare sector, be it on working towards achieving the dream of universal health coverage or building up human resources or in the domain of disease prevention”. “The pace at which the government is working will not only enable India to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) but bring India at par with developed countries in certain health indicators like life expectancy, infant mortality rate etc”, he said.

Dr Paul highlighted that India has already screened over 5 crore people for sickle cell anemia, moving incrementally towards achieving the target of screening 8 crore people. “Similar progress is being made in other programs like Mental Health, Oral Health and Family Planning”, he said.

Highlighting India’s shift in approach towards holistic healthcare, Dr Paul underlined key initiatives towards achieving the vision. He noted that the AB PM-JAY initiative has recently been enhanced to cover all senior citizens aged 70 years and above while the network of Ayushman Arogya Mandirs are providing comprehensive primary healthcare.

Dr Paul informed that India has eliminated or is on the verge of eliminating 7 diseases in the next 5 years including Measles, Rubella, Trachoma, Kala-Azar, TB, Leprosy and Lymphatic Filariasis. He mentioned that India will also be close to eliminating Malaria in the next few years and noted the infrastructural development ongoing across the country towards disease elimination.

Emphasizing that the health sector achieved historic support in the last decade, Dr Paul encouraged everyone to visit the experience stalls at the pavilion to understand the progress being made in different health programs.

Smt. Aradhana Patnaik, Addl. Secretary, Health Ministry; Smt. Roli Singh, Addl. Secretary, Health Ministry; Shri Rajiv Wadhawan, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry and other senior officials of the Union Health Ministry were present at the event.

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