Rajendra Pratap Gupta, advisor, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, spoke on various endeavours by the government to enhance health of its citizens.
The second edition of the Express Public Health Awards, which concluded on Saturday, honoured state governments, government hospitals and NGOs for their efforts at achieving UN’s Sustainable Development Goals related to health.
The awards are a tribute to public health champions for their commitment towards people’s welfare in the face of diverse challenges like budgetary constraints, resource restraints and exacting timelines, said Viveka Roychowdhury, editor, Express Healthcare.
The jury comprised of Dr Srinath Reddy, founder and president, PHFI and chairperson of the jury; Dr RK Srivastava, senior advisor, WISH Foundation, Delhi; and Bejon Misra, founder, PSM India; Dr Sheetal Amte-Karajgi, CEO, Maharogi Sewa Samiti, Warora; Prof Yogesh Chawla, immediate past director, PGIMER, Chandigarh; Prof Dr Bhabatosh Biswas, VC, Health University, West Bengal and Dr M Prakasamma, executive director, ANSWERS, Hyderabad.
Rajendra Pratap Gupta, advisor, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, spoke on various endeavours by the government to enhance health of its citizens. He also gave several recommendations to augment the current framework such as making pharmacists and nurses the cornerstones of the health system and integrating AYUSH with mainstream medical practice by making it more evidence-based.
Rajendra Pratap Gupta; jury members Dr Prakasamma, Dr Srivastava and Bejon Misra; AG Prasad, Divisional Head, institutional sales & marketing at Glenmark Pharmaceuticals and Roychowdhury gave away the awards to the winners.
In a video address, Dr Reddy stated that PHFI is very glad to partner with Express Healthcare in celebrating the game changers in the country’s public health sector. Roychowdhury too expressed her gratitude to Glenmark, the Presenting Partner; Public Health Foundation of India, the Knowledge Partner and KPMG, the Process Partner.
The winners:
Express Public Health Award for Most Efficiently Run Health Programme by a State Government: Government of Madhya Pradesh won for their TB programme run by the Directorate of Health Services.
Express Public Health Award for Most Efficiently Run Health Programme by a Government Institution: The National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences won for their hub-and-spoke model across the country comprising community health professionals, NGOs, GPs, non-specialists and lay counsellors.
Express Public Health Award for Innovation in Increasing Affordable Access by a State Government: The winner was Government of Andhra Pradesh for their initiative to provide free drugs to all patients visiting government institutions in 13 districts and 17,286 villages, in a transparent way with e-Aushadhi, a software developed by CDAC.
Express Public Health Award for Most Effective Health Technology System by a State Government: Government of Himachal Pradesh bagged this award for their Himachal Pradesh Tele Health Services (HP-THS), a project run by SPO (e-health), Directorate of Health Services, for providing telehealth services at high altitude regions
Express Public Health Award for Most Effective Public Private Partnership: The Government of Andhra Pradesh received this award for their diagnostics project, NTR Vaidya Pariksha, which helped reduce out of pocket expenditure (OOPE) from 54 per cent to 17 per cent in one year.
Express Public Health Award for Most Effective Healthcare NGO: Rural Health Care Foundation, Kolkata was awarded for innovation in service delivery. Their work in primary health centres of seven districts of West Bengal judged scalable, sustainable and replicable.
Express Public Health Award for Best Government Hospital with a Medical College: Indira Gandhi Medical College & Hospital, Shimla received the award for providing free treatment or at subsidised rates.
Four Special Mentions were also announced:
Regional Institute of Medical Sciences Rehabilitation Hospital, Imphal, Manipur received a Special Mention as the Best Government Hospital (Non Metro Region).
Ziqitza Healthcare Limited (ZHL) received a Special Mention under the Most Effective PPP in Healthcare Infrastructure category.
Shree Krishna Hospital, HM Patel Centre for Medical Care & Education deserved a Special Mention as Best Hospital with a Medical College.
Maharaja District Hospital, Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh, received a Special Mention as the Best District Government Hospital
Source: Indian Express