New Delhi Apr 20 PTI The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 187 crore on Wednesday according to the Union health ministryMore than 13 lakh 1369541 vaccine doses were administered till 7 pm on Wednesday the ministry said adding that the daily vaccination tally is expected to go up with the compilation of the final reports by late nightOver 24459precaution doses of the Covid vaccines were administered to beneficiaries in the age group of 18-59 years till 7 pm on Wednesday taking the total number of such doses given in this age group to235786 according to the health ministrys dataIndia began administering the precaution doses of the vaccines to all aged above 18 years from private vaccination centres on April 10Those above the age of 18 and who have completed nine months since the administration of the second dose of the vaccines are eligible to receive the precaution doseThe countrywide vaccination drive against the viral disease was rolled out on January 16 last year with the healthcare workers HCWs getting inoculated in the first phase The vaccination of frontline workers FLWs started from February 2 last yearThe next phase of Covid vaccination commenced on March 1 last year for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified comorbid conditionsThe country launched vaccination for all people aged above 45 years from April 1 last year The Centre then decided to expand the vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 years of age to be inoculated against the viral disease from May 1 last yearThe next phase of vaccination commenced from January 3 this year for adolescents in the age group of 15-18 yearsIndia began administering the precaution doses of the vaccines to the HCWs FLWs and those aged 60 and above with comorbidities from January 10 this yearThe country began inoculating children aged12-14from March 16 and also removed the comorbidity clause making all people aged above 60eligiblefor the precaution dose PTI PLB RC

New Delhi Apr 20 PTI More than357 lakh people participated in the Ayushman Bharat health melas organised in around 490 blocks across the country on April 19 the Union health ministry said on WednesdayThe health ministry in collaboration with the states and Union territories is celebrating the fourth anniversary of the Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres AB-HWCs under Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav from April 16 to April 22A record three lakh teleconsultations through the e-Sanjeevani platform were done in a day at the AB-HWCs on April 16 surpassing the earlier milestone of 18 lakh teleconsultations a dayOn April 19 more than 25000 teleconsultations were done throughout the country the health ministry said in a statementOn the second day of the health melas more than 357 lakh people participated and around 490 blocks organised the health melas across the country Further more than 60000 Ayushman Bharat Health Account ABHA health IDs were created and 21000 PMJAY golden cards issued in addition to the thousands of screenings done for hypertension diabetes etc the statement saidHealth melas at more than one lakh AB-HWCs in at least one block in each district of the states and Union territories are being organised across the country from April 18 to April 22 Each health mela would be a daylong event and every block in the states will be coveredThe Union health minister the health ministers of the states and Union territories MPs MLAs senior officials of the Union health ministry the principal health secretaries or health secretaries of the states senior officials of the state health departments and local dignitaries are visiting the AB-HWCs and creating awareness among the public regarding the importance of these centres in providing affordable and accessible healthcare PTI PLB RC

New Delhi Apr 19 PTI More than 35 lakh people participated in the 464 Ayushman Bharat block-level health melas organised on April 18 while over 64000 ABHA health IDs were created and 17000 PMJAY golden cards issued in addition to the thousands of screenings conducted for hypertension and diabetesThe Union health ministry in collaboration with the states and Union territories is celebrating the fourth anniversary of the Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres AB-HWCs under Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav from April 16 to April 22From April 18 to April 22 block-level health melas at more than one lakh AB-HWCs in at least one block in each district of the states are being organised the Union health ministry said in a statementEach health mela would be a daylong event and every block in the states and Union territories will be coveredOn day one of the health melas more than 35 lakh people participated and around 464 blocks organised the health melas across the countryFurther more than 64000 Ayushman Bharat Health Accounts ABHAs and health IDs were created and 17000Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana PM-JAY golden cards issued in addition to thousands of screenings done for hypertension diabetes etc the statement saidA record three lakh teleconsultations through the e-Sanjeevani platform were done at the AB-HWCs on April 16 surpassing the earlier record of 18 lakh teleconsultations a day it addedThe Union health minister the health ministers of the states and Union territories MPs MLAs senior officials of the Union health ministry the principal health secretaries or health secretaries of the states and Union territories senior officials of the state health departments and local dignitaries are visiting the AB-HWCs and creating awareness among the public regarding their importance in providing affordable and accessible healthcareTranslating the intent of the National Health Policy 2017 to achieve universal health coverage into budgetary commitments the Centre announced the establishment of 15 lakh AB-HWCs in February 2018The AB-HWCs are a major shift from selective to comprehensive primary healthcare inclusive of promotive preventive curative rehabilitative and palliative care from disease-centred to wellness-centred following the whole-of-society approach the statement said PTI PLB RC

New Delhi Apr 18 PTI Over21500 21580 precaution doses of COVID-19 vaccines were administered to beneficiaries aged 18-59 years till 7 pm on Monday taking the total number of such doses given in this age group to 184314 according to the Union health ministryThe cumulative number of Covid vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed1867 crore with more than 15lakhdoses administered till 7 pm on Monday the ministry said adding that the daily vaccination tally is expected to go up with the compilation of the final reports by late nightIndia began administering the precaution doses of the Covid vaccines to all aged above 18 years at private vaccination centres from April 10Those above the age of 18 and who have completed nine months since the administration of the second dose of the vaccines are eligible to receive the precaution doseMore than246crore vaccine doses have so far been administered to beneficiaries in the 12-14 years age groupOver255croreprecautiondoses have been administered to healthcare workers HCWs frontline workers FLWs and those aged 60 and above The countrywide vaccination drive against the viral disease was rolled out on January 16 last year with the HCWs getting inoculated in the first phase The vaccination of FLWs started from February 2 last yearThe next phase of Covid vaccination commenced on March 1 last year for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified comorbid conditionsIndia launched vaccination for all people aged above 45 years from April 1 last year The Centre then decided to expand the vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 years of age to be inoculated against the disease from May 1 last yearThe next phase of vaccination commenced from January 3 this year for adolescents in the age group of 15-18 yearsIndia began administering the precaution doses of the vaccines to HCWs FLWs and those aged 60 and above with comorbidities from January 10 this yearThe country began inoculating children aged12-14years from March 16 and also removed the comorbidity clause making all people aged above 60 eligible to receive the precaution dose PTI PLB RC

New Delhi Mar 30 PTI The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 184 crore on Wednesday according to the Union health ministryMore than 19 lakh 1924770 vaccine doses were administered till 7 pm on Wednesday the ministry said adding that the daily vaccination tally is expected to go up with the compilation of the final reports by late nightOver 159 crore 15951459 vaccine doses have so far been administered to beneficiaries in the age group of 12-14 years it saidMore than 23 crore 23003879 precaution doses of the vaccines have been given to healthare workers HCWs frontline workers FLWs and those aged 60 years and aboveThe countrywide vaccination drive against the viral disease was rolled out on January 16 last year with the HCWs getting inoculated in the first phase The vaccination of the FLWs started from February 2 last yearThe next phase of Covid vaccination commenced on March 1 last year for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditionsThe country launched vaccination for all people aged above 45 years from April 1 last yearThe Centre then decided to expand the vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 years of age to be inoculated against the disease from May 1 last yearThe next phase of Covid vaccination commenced from January 3 this year for adolescents in the age group of 15-18 yearsThe country began administering precaution doses of the vaccines to the HCWs the FLWs and those aged 60 years and above with comorbidities from January 10 this yearThe inoculation of children aged 12-14 started from March 16 PTI PLB RC

New Delhi Mar 29 PTI Indias COVID-19 tally climbed to 43021982 on Tuesday with 1259 fresh cases while the number of active cases of the infection further declined to 15378 according to the Union health ministryThe death toll due to the viral disease has gone up to 521070with 35 more fatalities the ministrys data updated at 8 am statedThe active cases account for004 per cent of the total caseload while the national COVID-19 recovery rate remained at 9875 per cent the ministry said adding that a reduction of 481 cases was recorded in the active caseload in a span of 24 hoursThe daily positivity rate was recorded at 022per cent and the weekly positivity rate was recorded at025 per cent according to the health ministryA total of577559tests were conducted to detect the infection in the last 24 hours India has so far conducted over7879 crore COVID-19 testsThe number of people who have recuperated from the disease has gone up to 42485534 while the case fatality rate was recorded at121 per centThe number of Covid vaccine doses administered in the country so far has exceeded18353crore Indias COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7 2020 30 lakh on August 23 2020 40 lakh on September 5 2020 and 50 lakh on September 16 2020It went past 60 lakh on September 28 2020 70 lakh on October 11 2020 80 lakh on October 29 2020 90 lakh on November 20 2020 and the one-crore mark on December 19 2020The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore Covid cases on May 4 2021 and the three-crore mark on June 23 2021 PTI PLB RC

New Delhi Mar 26 PTI Indias COVID-19 death toll climbed to 520855 with 4100 fatalities recorded in a day and Maharashtra reconciling the number of deaths caused by the viral disease in the state the Union health ministry said on SaturdayA total of 1660 fresh cases have pushed the countrys COVID-19 tally to 43018032 while the number of active cases has fallen below 20000 according to the ministrys data updated at 8 amThe number of active cases of the infection has declined to 16741 the lowest in 702 days and accounting for 004 per cent of the total caseload The national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 9875 per cent the ministry saidMaharashtra reported a high death toll because of the inclusion of non-Covid fatalities 4005 reported till Friday The state reported two fresh deaths caused by the viral disease in the last 24 hours according to a media bulletinA reduction of 4789cases was recorded in the countrys active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hoursThe daily positivity rate was recorded at025per cent while the weekly positivity rate was 029 per cent according to the health ministryA total of 658489tests were conducted to detect the infection in the last 24 hours India has so far conducted over7863 crore Covid testsThe number of people who have recuperated has gone up to 42480436 while the case fatality rate was recorded at121 per cent The cumulative number of Covid vaccine doses administered in the country has exceeded18287crore Indias COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7 2020 30 lakh on August 23 2020 40 lakh on September 5 2020 and 50 lakh on September 16 2020It went past 60 lakh on September 28 2020 70 lakh on October 11 2020 80 lakh on October 29 2020 90 lakh on November 20 2020 and the one-crore mark on December 19 2020The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore cases on May 4 2021 and the three-crore mark on June 23 2021 PTI PLB RC

New Delhi Mar 24 PTI The total number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 18251 crore on Thursday the Union health ministry saidMore than 88 lakh 8813578 vaccine doses have so far been administered to beneficiaries in the age group of 12 to 14 years it addedOver 26 lakh 2650337 vaccine doses were administered till 7 pm on Thursday the ministry said adding that the daily vaccination tally is expected to go up with the compilation of the final reports by late nightMore than 222 crore 22256496 precaution doses have been administered to healthcare workers HCWs frontline workers FLWs and those aged above 60 yearsThe countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 last year with the HCWs getting inoculated in the first phase The vaccination of the FLWs started from February 2 last yearThe next phase of Covid vaccination commenced on March 1 last year for people above 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditionsThe country launched vaccination for all people aged above 45 years from April 1 last yearThe Centre then decided to expand the vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 years of age to be inoculated against the viral disease from May 1 last yearThe next phase of Covid vaccination commenced from January 3 this year for adolescents in the age group of 15-18 yearsThe country began administering precaution doses of the vaccines to the HCWs FLWs and those aged 60 years and above with comorbidities from January 10The inoculation of children aged 12-14 years started from March 16 PTI PLB RC

New Delhi Mar 24 PTI In a major relief to the patients visiting the AIIMS here the time duration of sample collection for diagnostic tests at the facility has been further extended by three hours officials said on ThursdaySamples will now be collected from 8 am to 630 pm they saidThis will particularly provide relief to the patients who attend the afternoon clinics which often continue till 5 or 6 pm So the samples for the investigations prescribed by the doctors can then be given on the same day saving an extra visit to the hospital said Dr Subrata Sinha the head of the laboratory medicine department at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences AIIMSWith the new automated systems including the robotic smart lab now being fully operational over 50000 individual tests are being conducted at the premier hospital in a day which in turn eliminates backlog in testingIn September last year the AIIMS had extended the timings for collecting the blood samples till 330 pmThe Department of Laboratory Medicine has increased the timing of blood collection and body fluids at New RAK OPD Basement and old RAK OPD Lab No 27 and 28 up to 630 pmThe reports of routine investigations will be released within three hours of receiving the samples except some special tests depending on the procedure of processing samples a communication sent to medical superintendent Dr D K Sharma by Dr Sinha on March 23 said PTI PLB RC

New Delhi Mar 24 PTI Expressing concern at the wide inter-state and intra-state disparity in healthcare infrastructure across the country a parliamentary panel has flagged that most of the states have not enhanced the share of the health budget to more than eight per cent of their total budget in the last five yearsThe Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare in its report tabled in Parliament on Thursday recommended that all the states and Union territories should emulate Delhi and Puducherry and increase the share of health spending in their budgetsThe panel said the Department of Health and Family Welfare should persuade the states to achieve the budgetary health expenditure of eight per centDespite the much emphasised guidelines of the National Health Policy-2017 the states and UTs barring Delhi and Puducherry have not enhanced the share of health budget to more than eight per cent of the total state budget in the last five years the committee highlightedIt said the states with poor financial resources and inefficient fiscal capacity have a herculean task ahead to overcome the situation of fragile health infrastructure vis-a-vis the demand of accessible and affordable healthcare facilitiesIn order to maximise the benefits of economic social and human capital the states must invest in institutionalising a robust healthcare ecosystem that is capable of delivering adequate healthcare services to the masses at the ground level especially in rural urban and tribal regions the panel saidThe sooner the states realise the difference a resilient and strong health system makes the better will be the outcome on all social as well as economic indicators it addedThe committee further noted that health has always remained an underperforming sector and despite funds allocation many states are not performing well on several health parametersMany states lack the adequate absorption capacity to judiciously manage the funds allocated it pointed outThe panel therefore recommended that the Centre should incentivise the states to make a ground-level assessment of the efficacy of the health policies and help them design policies suitable to the needs of the respective regionsThe Centre must coordinate with the states to maximise the output under the central sector as well as the centrally-sponsored schemes it notedThe panel highlighted that robust health policies and judicious allocation of funds under different schemes are fundamental for the optimal performance of the statesIt said healthcare services remain highly fragmented which further aggravates the problem of high out-of-the-pocket expenditure in the countryThe committee accordingly recommends the health ministry to make efforts in developing a better healthcare financing mechanism and ensuring the delivery of quality healthcare services the report said PTI PLB RC