COVID-19 UPDATES AS ON 20.11.2020

 

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

India records a landmark milestone with operationalisation of more than 50,000 Ayushman Bharat Health & Wellness Centres (HWCs)

Dr Harsh Vardhan congratulates States/UTs on this achievement

The contribution of HWCs in COVID response and management is unique: Dr Harsh Vardhan

6.43 cr people screened for hypertension, 5.23 cr for diabetes and 6.14 cr for cancers

Posted On: 20 NOV 2020 9:19AM by PIB Delhi

 

India has crossed a landmark milestone on the journey of universal healthcare. More than 50,000 (50,025) Ayushman Bharat - Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWCs) are now operational across the country. Aiming at providing Comprehensive Primary Health Care (CPHC) services to the communities closer to their homes, 1.5 lakh AB-HWCs are to be established by December 2022. With more than 50,000 having been established, 1/3 of the target has been met. This has led to improved access to affordable primary healthcare services for more than 25 crore people.

Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare congratulated the States/UTs for their efforts in operationalising the HWCs despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. “This has been possible due to the joint efforts of the Center and the States/UTs in planning, monitoring at all levels, standardization of processes, the flexibility for adaptation provided to the States/UTs, and building on the health systems created thus far”, he stated. The HFM specially thanked the frontline health workers, the Medical Officers, the Community Health Officers and ASHAs for their dedication to the cause of providing Comprehensive Primary Health Care services and for supporting millions of people with necessary services in these difficult times. “They are the backbone of the healthcare delivery system. Their contribution during the COVID period has been exemplary”, he said. HWCs have helped in interventions such as risk communication, contact tracing, community surveillance and early identification of cases, and seamless provisioning of non-COVID essential health services for ensuring protection of vulnerable groups, such as the newborn, elderly and those with co-morbidities.

#COVID19 screening at a HWC in Assam

Ayushman Bharat was launched in 2018 with its twin pillars of Health & Wellness Centers (HWCs) and Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) with bidirectional linkages between the two for providing the full range of services across the continuum of care. The first AB-HWC was launched by Hon. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on the 14th of April 2018 at Jhangla in Bijapur District of Chhattisgarh.

The Health & Wellness Centers provide CPHC services to people and sustain the efforts for provision of reproductive, maternal, neonatal, child, adolescent and nutrition (RMNCHA+N) services and control of communicable diseases. They also focus on disease prevention, especially for chronic and non-communicable diseases, wellness through community engagement and creating awareness about health lifestyles, appropriate nutrition and physical activities such as Yoga. The HWC team consists of a trained Community Health Officer, one or two Health Workers and 5-8 ASHAs. This team has well defined tasks which intend to deliver public health functions and primary health care by bringing health-care services closer to the community.

The 50,025 operational AB-HWCs are now spread across 678 districts, and include 27,890 Sub Health Centres, 18,536 Primary Health Centres and 3,599 Urban Primary Health Centres. Together, these AB-HWC have witnessed over 28.10 crore footfalls of which over 53% percent are women who sought care at these centres. More than 6.43 crore people have been screened for hypertension, 5.23 crore for diabetes and 6.14 crore people for cancers.  About 1.0 crore people are being provided free drugs for treatment of hypertension and about 60 lakhs for diabetes.

Community Health Officer screening for hypertension at a HWC in Tripura

Focus on wellness is one of the novel interventions under the ABHWC Programme. Over 30 lakhs wellness sessions have been conducted at these centres including activities such as Yoga, Zumba, Community Walks, Shirodhara, Meditation etc.

#Yoga session at Phubasahi Khordha HWC, Odisha

HWCs also provide a strong backbone for the implementation of the eSanjeevani platform of Health Ministry which includes the eSanjeevani Patient-to-Doctor OPD and eSanjeevani-HWC which provides Doctor-to-Doctor teleconsultation service. 23,103 HWCs have started providing teleconsultation services to citizens. More than 7.5 lakh teleconsultations have already been conducted through these platforms. The eSanjeevani-HWC was rolled out in November 2019. It is to be implemented in all the 1.5 lakh Health and Wellness Centres in a 'Hub and Spoke' model, by December 2022. States need to set up dedicated 'Hubs' in Medical Colleges and District hospitals to provide tele-consultation services to 'Spokes', i.e. Health & Wellness Centres (HWC).

State wise functional AB-HWCs as on 18.11.2020

SN	STATE	Functional AB-HWCs as on 18112020
		SHC	PHC	UPHC	TOTAL
1	Andaman & Nicobar Islands	58	17	5	80
2	Andhra Pradesh	1122	1145	241	2508
3	Arunachal Pradesh	91	38	4	133
4	Assam	878	379	52	1309
5	Bihar	207	877	98	1182
6	Chandigarh		33	2	35
7	Chhattisgarh	1450	402	45	1897
8	Dadra & Nagar Haveli	52	8	0	60
9	Daman & Diu	26	4	0	30
10	Delhi	Not implementing the Programme
11	Goa	9	54	5	68
12	Gujarat	3523	1108	222	4853
13	Haryana	159	364	100	623
14	Himachal Pradesh	275	422	6	703
15	Jammu & Kashmir	505	305	16	826
16	Jharkhand	852	132	52	1036
17	Karnataka	1572	1896	336	3804
18	Kerala	0	733	83	816
19	Ladakh	0	0	0	0
20	Lakshadweep	0	3	0	3
21	Madhya Pradesh	3026	1128	130	4284
22	Maharashtra	4117	1825	439	6381
23	Manipur	111	39	1	151
24	Meghalaya	70	34	19	123
25	Mizoram	44	54	8	106
26	Nagaland	101	47	7	155
27	Odisha	304	1225	86	1615
28	Puducherry	77	37	2	116
29	Punjab	1607	346	93	2046
30	Rajasthan	131	1859	116	2106
31	Sikkim	43	13	0	56
32	Tamil Nadu	858	1371	453	2682
33	Telangana	274	624	221	1119
34	Tripura	266	32	5	303
35	Uttar Pradesh	3509	1468	391	5368
36	Uttarakhand	262	246	36	544
37	West Bengal	2311	268	325	2904
	Total	27890	18536	3599	50025

 

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HFW/50,000 HWCs/20November2020/1

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Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Centre rushes High Level Teams to 4 States; contemplating for others too

Centre advises States/UTs to increase testing levels to track the undetected and missed out patients

High levels of Testing ensures falling Positivity Rate

Active Caseload remains below 5% of Total Cases

Posted On: 20 NOV 2020 12:13PM by PIB Delhi

 

The Union Government has rushed four high level teams to Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Manipur. The teams will visit the districts reporting high number of COVID cases and support the State efforts towards strengthening containment, surveillance, testing, infection prevention and control measures, and efficient clinical management of the positive cases. The Central teams shall also guide in effectively managing the challenges related to timely diagnosis and follow up. The Centre is also contemplating sending high level multidisciplinary teams to other States/UTs that are reporting a rise in the COVID-19 positive cases.

The Union Government has advised the State/UT governments to adopt aggressive and widespread testing to ensure that the missed out and undetected positive COVID-19 cases are promptly identified for timely and effective tracing, containment and subsequent treatment.

India has tested total of 12,95,91,786 samples, as on date. More than 10L tests (10,83,397) were conducted in the past 24 hours. High levels of widespread testing have ensured that the cumulative positivity rate is sustained at low levels and is presently following a downward trajectory. The cumulative national Positivity Rate stands at 6.95% today, less than the 7% mark.  Higher volumes of testing eventually lead to low Positivity rate.

34 States/UTs are performing more than 140 Tests/Day/Million population, the figure advised by WHO in its Guidance Note on “Public Health Criteria to Adjust Public Health and Social Measures in the Context of COVID-19” for comprehensive surveillance for suspected cases.

20 States/UTs are reporting a cumulative Positivity rate lower than the national average (6.95%).

In the last 24 hours, 45,882 persons were found to be infected with COVID. India’s present active caseload of 4,43,794 comprises 4.93% of India’s Total Positive Cases, and has been sustained below the 5% mark.

Ten States/UTs account for 78.2% of the total active caseload. Maharashtra leads the tally with 18.19% of the share.                                    

28 States/UTs have less than 20,000 active cases, as on date.

India has registered 44,807 new recoveries in the last 24 hours taking the total recovered cases to 84,28,409.  The Recovery Rate has improved to 93.60% today. The gap between Recovered cases and Active cases is steadily increasing and presently stands at 79,84,615.

78.02% of the new recovered cases is contributed by ten States/UTs.

With 6,860 persons recovering from COVID, Kerala saw the most number of recoveries followed by Delhi with 6,685 daily recoveries. Maharashtra reported 5,860 new recoveries.

Ten States/UTs have contributed 77.20% of the new cases.

Delhi reported 7,546 cases in the last 24 hours. Kerala recorded 5,722 new cases while Maharashtra reported 5,535 daily cases yesterday. 

81.85% of the 584 case fatalities that have been reported in the past 24 hours are from Ten States/UTs.

26.32% of new fatalities reported are from Maharashtra which reported 154 deaths. Delhi also saw a fatality count of 93 while West Bengal reported 53 new deaths.

                                                                                                                                               

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HFW/COVID States data/20November2020/2

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Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Health Ministry’s eSanjeevani completes 8 Lakh consultations

Posted On: 20 NOV 2020 2:53PM by PIB Delhi

India has seen a landmark achievement in the space of digital health initiatives. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s eSanjeevani, the national telemedicine initiative, has completed 8 lakh consultations today. 

This is fast emerging as a sought after and popular means of seeking health care, especially during the COVID times in order to avoid physical contact while still benefitting by quality services. Over 11,000 patients are seeking health services on a daily basis in 27 States/UTs. eSanjeevani is also facilitating some states as a model that can serve patients throughout the year, especially in the far flung and remote areas.

The top ten States which have registered highest consultations through eSanjeevani and eSanjeevaniOPD platforms are Tamil Nadu (259904), Uttar Pradesh (219715), Kerala (58000), Himachal Pradesh (46647), Madhya Pradesh (43045), Gujarat (41765), Andhra Pradesh (35217), Uttarakhand (26819), Karnataka (23008), Maharashtra (9741).

 eSanjeevani’s both variants of telemedicine namely - doctor to doctor (eSanjeevani AB-HWC) and patient to doctor (eSanjeevaniOPD) are consistently growing in terms of users on both sides i.e. patients / health workers on the one end and doctors on the other. eSanjeevani AB-HWC was launched by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in November 2019 and it is to be implemented at 1,55,000 Health and Wellness Centres under Govt. of India’s Ayushman Bharat Scheme in ‘Hub & Spoke’ model by December 2022. eSanjeevani AB-HWC is functional at over 4,700 Health and Wellness Centres and over 17,000 doctors and health workers have been trained on its use. eSanjeevaniOPD, the second variant of this ambitious initiative, was rolled out on 13^th of April 2020 during the first lockdown when OPDs across the country were closed to prevent COVID-19 infections. 

eSanjeevani is having a significant impact amongst the section of populace where the travel distance, time and cost have been the barriers to seeking outpatient services. It has served as a viable and preferred option for consulting with a doctor. So far 16 districts have registered more than 10,000 consultations and over 100 districts have registered more than 1000 consultations.

Over 7500 doctors have been trained and on boarded to provide telemedicine services on over 220 online OPDs on eSanjeevaniOPD. eSanjeevaniOPD enables access to OPD services by the patients in the confines of their homes. Over 100 telemedicine practitioners have completed more than 1,000 teleconsultations and a few of them have logged over 10,000 consultations. As regards patients, over 20% patients use eSanjeevani to consult with doctors more than once. As many of these are small districts, it reflects that eSanjeevani is having equal or more impact in smaller districts.

Health Ministry along with State/UT Governments is making rapid strides to continuously optimise the utilisation of human resources.  In few States same set of doctors and specialists are now providing services on both doctor-to-doctor and patient-to-doctor variant of eSanjeevani. The eSanjeevani team at C-DAC Mohali is extending all the technical support ranging from development, deployment, implementation, training, operations and management of eSanjeevani.

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HFW/COVID eSanjeevani-8 lakhs/20November2020/3

 

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Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Dr. Harsh Vardhan addresses National Council of Confederation of Indian Industries (CII)

“Private Institutions have played a huge role in Polio Eradication and their support is essential in Public Health”

“The COVIN Portal and Network will ensure last mile Vaccine Delivery”

Posted On: 20 NOV 2020 5:20PM by PIB Delhi

Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare interacted with the National Council of Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) through Video Conference, here today.

Congratulating CII for organising and bringing together diverse platforms that have enabled the Government of India to be in constant dialogue and deliberation on the Pandemic for the welfare of one of the largest populations in the world, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said, “The Indian healthcare Industry is one of India’s largest sector in terms of revenue and provision of employment, and with its market projected to increase three-fold to Rs. 8.6 trillion by 2022, it is necessary that steps be taken that will allow stakeholders to converge within the industry.The need to provide healthcare, which is accessible and affordable, now more than ever, becomes a necessity especially due to the effects that COVID has had on our entire system.” 

Highlighting the government’s efforts in launching Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (PMJAY)under Ayushman Bharat as a step in the right direction to ensure that affordable healthcare reaches the masses, he said, “The Indian healthcare scenario presents a spectrum of contrasting landscapes with the inequality existing within the urban-rural setting. This gap needs to be bridged and the Government under Sh. Narendra Modi ji is determined to bridge it. Ayushman Bharat with PMJAY and the HWC network for screening of NCDs and Cancer is a significantstep in that direction.”In this regard, he also noted, “Public-Private-Partnerships (PPPs) is the way forward as they help improve efficiency and innovation, increase effectiveness, help reduce urban-rural disparity, increase accessibility and reduce our Out Of Pocket Health Expenditure.”

Speaking on the spectacular achievements of the Health Ministry in utilizing Information Technology in not only fighting COVID but also providing Non-COVID essential Healthcare in the country, the Minister said, “We need to maximise the potential that technology has provided us and leverage this in our fight towards healthcare for all. Telemedicine has come to the fore and has provided us with a solution for last-mile connectivity. Today the eSanjeevani teleconsultation service has completed 8 lakh teleconsultations.”

Borrowing from his own experience in his campaign against Polio, he reminded everyone that private organizations like CII, Delhi Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club had come forward to bear the expenses and made it a huge success. He further observed, “We need to move towards helping organizations and industries understand the true importance of a robust healthcare ecosystem. This is to be done while ensuring a close oversight of both organic growth initiatives and other non-traditional healthcare models.”

Dr. Harsh Vardhan also highlighted India’s tryst with COVID as an evidence of co-operation between the Public and Private sectors. “Our nation has now become one of the largest manufacturers of Personal Protective Equipment kits. We used to send samples to CDC Atlanta for testing a few years back while we now have private testing labs contributing to the total testing capacity of the country.” He also expressed his admiration for the COVID Warriors, especially their mothers who did not desist their children from performing their duty knowing the health risk posed in carrying them out.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan assured the audience that the COVID Vaccine will be available on time. In this regard, he mentioned that Government had already ramped up its immunization capability with an elaborate cold storage chain for immunizing children from 12 diseases under Mission Indradhanush. “The entire eVIN platform is being repurposed as COVIN Network. All movement of stock can be digitally tracked and those receiving vaccines can also be traced after two to three weeks if the vaccine requires two shots. This will ensure last mile Vaccine delivery,” he said.

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