New Delhi, July 23
During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first year in
office, the health ministry has relaunched existing programmes
and claimed credit for programmes not launched by the National
Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.
Factchecker took a look at the claims and realities:
1. Mission Indradhanush, a new immunisation programme: Only the name is new
Claim: A new programme named Mission Indradhanush will target areas of low immunisation.
Reality: Mission Indradhanush is
the new name for Special Immunisation Weeks (SIWs), which have been
conducted every year in areas of low immunisation under the Universal
Immunisation Programme (UIP).
Special vaccination campaigns were
planned for seven to 10 days in 201 high-focus districts during
March-June 2015 under Mission Indradhanush. But this has routinely been
done in preceding years. For example, in 2013-14, four rounds (April,
June, July and August) of SIWs were conducted in 31 states and union
territories. More than 9.8 million doses of various antigens were
administered to children.
Similarly, during 2012-13, SIWs were
carried out in low-coverage areas and more than 17.3 million doses of
various antigens were administered.
2. Mission Indradhanush will be world’s largest immunisation drive: It already is
Claim: Mission Indradhanush, “the largest-ever immunisation driveâ€, will immunise 8.9 million children.
Reality: UIP
is one of the largest programs in the world, according to immunisation
summary report jointly published by United Nations Children’s
Fund and World Health Organisation.
More than 20 million
pregnant women and children were immunised during 2011-12, according
to data released by the health ministry.
3. India Newborn Action Plan (INAP): One of many existing plans
Claim: INAP aims to end all preventable new-born deaths and still births by 2030.
Reality: INAP
is the latest entrant to a long list of existing interventions under
the National Health Mission (NHM) to reduce neo-natal and maternal
mortality.
A few of these interventions and programmes are:
*
Round-the-clock maternal care services at community health centres and
primary health centres promotion of institutional delivery through
Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) and Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (JSSK)
new-born care corners at all health facilities
* Special new born care units (SNCUs) and new born stabilisation units
* Home-based new born care through Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs)
*
Prevention and treatment of anaemia with iron and folic acid tablets
during pregnancy and lactation prevention of anaemia due to malaria,
tackled by long-lasting insecticide nets and insecticide-treated bed
nets
* Name-based tracking of pregnant women to ensure
ante-natal, intra-natal and post-natal care integrated management of
neo-natal and childhood illnesses
* Universal immunisation
programme for about 135 million children against seven
vaccine-preventable diseases through nine million immunisation sessions
each year
* Capacity building of healthcare providers through training of nurses under NHM
Engagement of more than 0.89 million ASHAs village health and nutrition days
* Reproductive maternal new-born child-health+adolescent interventions in 184 high priority districts
The
two targets proposed in INAP are (a) reducing preventable new-born
deaths and (b) reducing preventable still-births to single digits, fewer
than 10 per 1,000 live births by 2030 (as against 22 per 1,000 live
births today).
4. India’s first mental-health policy launched: Work began in 2011
Claim: Launched the country’s first-ever mental health policy.
Reality: The
work of framing a national mental-health policy began in April 2011,
following a resolution on mental disorders adopted at the World health
Assembly. The government constituted a policy group to frame a
mental-health policy, launched in October 2014.
(In arrangement
with IndiaSpend.org, a data-driven, non-profit,
public interest journalism platform. Factchecker is a part of
IndiaSpend. Manoj K can be contacted at [email protected])
