Kolkata: Lauding India’s achievement of crossing the milestone of 150 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said it reflected the country’s newfound confidence, pride and self-reliance, as he inaugurated the second campus of the Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute here over video conference from New Delhi.
The Prime Minister said India’s feat of reaching the vaccine landmark “in the first week of the first month of the year itself” meant the country has taken less than a year to administer 150 crore doses.
“It is a significant achievement and symbol of the will power of the country. It denotes the country's new confidence, Aatmnirbharta and pride,” he said.
As cases are rising due to the omicron variant, the shield of 150 crore vaccines doses “becomes all the more important”, the Prime Minister said.
The COVID-19 vaccination started in the country from January 16, 2021
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Union Ministers Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, Dr Subhas Sarkar, Shantanu Thakur, John Barla and Nisith Pramanik were among those present on the occasion.
Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister said the new campus will go a long way in providing affordable and state of the art care to the people of West Bengal, especially to the poor and middle class families.
“In the journey of the pledge to make best medical care available to each and every citizen of the country, we have taken another strong step”, said the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister mentioned that the country started the year with vaccination for children in the age group of 15 to 18 years.
The Prime Minister noted that already more than 90 percent of India's adult population has received a single dose of the vaccine. Within just 5 days, more than 1.5 crore children have also been given the dose of the vaccine.
He dedicated the achievement to the whole country and every government. He especially thanked the scientists of the country, the vaccine manufacturers and the people in the health sector for this achievement.
The Prime Minister said so far about 11 crore doses of corona vaccine have been provided free of cost to West Bengal by the central government. More than 1,500 ventilators, over 9 thousand new oxygen cylinders have also been provided to the state, where new 49 PSA oxygen plants have also started functioning.
The Prime Minister said to transform the health sector of the country, mission mode campaigns for preventive healthcare, affordable healthcare, supply side intervention are being accelerated.
The Prime Minister refered to the financial implications faced by the poor and the middle class families because of cancer, and said to get the poor out of the vicious circle that the disease causes, the country is taking continuous steps for cheap and accessible treatment.
The prices of medicines needed for the treatment of cancer have come down significantly in the last few years, he said. More than 8 thousand Jan Aushadhi Kendras are providing medicines and surgicals at very affordable rates. More than 50 cancer drugs are available at much lower cost in these stores.
The Prime Minister said his government is sensitive to the needs of the patients and price regulation of more than 500 medicines is saving more than Rs 3000 crore annually. Heart patients are saving more than Rs 4500 crore every year due to regulated prices of the coronary stents, while reduced costs of knee implants are helping the senior citizens.
He said 12 lakh poor patients have received free dialysis facilities under the Prime Minister National Dialysis Programme. (UNI)