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Nutrition to Become Key Focus in UP Chief Minister Arogya Health Melas
Anytime News Network
Pooja Srivastava
Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to integrate nutrition awareness and related services into the Chief Minister Arogya Health Melas as part of its efforts to strengthen public healthcare delivery across the state. The decision was highlighted during a virtual review meeting chaired by Amit Kumar Ghosh, Additional Chief Secretary, Medical Health & Family Welfare and Medical Education Department, while reviewing healthcare services in the Mirzapur and Varanasi divisions.
The meeting assessed the progress, quality, and effectiveness of various health schemes being implemented under the Medical Health and Family Welfare Department. Officials from divisional and district health administrations participated through virtual mode.
Mr. Ghosh emphasized that nutrition awareness would now be integrated into the Chief Minister Arogya Health Melas in coordination with the Department of Child Development and Nutrition. He directed officials to promote awareness regarding nutrition at every Primary Health Centre (PHC) and Community Health Centre (CHC).
During the review, certain shortcomings were identified in Mirzapur and Sonbhadra districts. Officials were instructed to address these issues at the earliest. The Additional Chief Secretary also announced that surprise inspections would soon be conducted through special teams to evaluate the actual functioning of health units. Doctors were directed to ensure night stay at health centres according to duty schedules so that emergency medical services remain available during nighttime hours.
Special emphasis was also placed on water conservation during the summer season, reducing edible oil consumption in meals, and promoting energy efficiency in government health facilities. Officials were advised to maintain air conditioners between 25 and 27 degrees Celsius and maximize the use of natural sunlight to save electricity. Staff members were encouraged to adopt carpooling practices to reduce fuel consumption and energy wastage.
Pinky Jowel, Mission Director of the National Health Mission (NHM), informed that inspections across all districts of the state have been completed and a second phase of self-assessment will soon begin. A mobile application-based training system will also be introduced for better monitoring. She stressed the use of the DVDMS portal to ensure medicine availability and encouraged wider adoption of e-prescriptions.
As part of the inspection exercise, 1,534 health facilities out of 3,178 units across the two divisions were physically inspected. These included district hospitals, CHCs, PHCs, Ayushman Arogya Mandirs, special hospitals, medical colleges, and 240 Chief Minister Arogya Health Melas organised on Sundays.
