Himachal (The Stellar News): The Government of India conducted a National Summit on good replicable practices and innovations in Public Health Care Schemes in India and this year the Summit is being organized for the 7th time in virtual mode and because of COVID-19. The best practices in Public Health Care with respect to Non Communicable Disease Control Programmes was held on 6th January, 2021 and from the State of HP two innovations i.e. Operationalization of three Geriatric Day Care Centers and the Sunday Active Case Finding Campaign for Tuberculosis have been chosen by the Govt. of India as best practices across the country. This was said by Mission Director, NHM, Dr. Nipun Jindal here today.
He said the NHM in partnership with Help Age India has opened three Geriatric Care Centers in Shimla, Mandi and Dharamshala towns of the State which were inaugurated on 21st August, 2019 on the occasion of World Senior Citizen Day. To offset the challenges of the Geriatric Care particularly increasing geriatric population, increasing load of non-communicable diseases, low mobility and isolation due to rapid urbanization and societal modernization, these centers have been opened to cater to the varied needs of the elderly population of these three towns.These centers provide a comprehensive gambit of services under a single roof including health care, skill building, legal aid and counselling, activity based physical and mental engagement and recreational activities.
He further added that till November, 2020 more than 25,000 beneficiaries have benefitted from this service including close to 15,000 elderly people who have taken physiotherapy and close to 2,500 people in geriatric age group who have been examined in various health camps.The presentation in this regard was made by the MD to all the other State’s Health Departments and the Govt. of India showcasing the unique service delivery alongwith dovetailing other programmes like NCD programme, free drugs, digital literacy and legal services etc. The State initiative of Sunday Active Case Finding campaign was also presented to the other States by the way of poster. The MD informed that since the innovation has been implemented in the State, 56,81,115 number of persons have been screened verbally by the ASHA workers for symptoms of Tuberculosis, out of which on the basis of presumptive diagnosis, 12,018 sputum samples have been collected by the Asha workers during this activity.
Out of these sputum samples of 2.28 percent people have come out to be positive which is the additional yield of Sunday Active Case Finding for TB case notification. The districts of Kangra, Una and Mandi have been the front runners in this initiative in terms of the sputum samples collection and the TB case diagnosis. He further informed that this activity is proving to be a catalyst under the National TB Elimination Programme in the State.
