Country achieves another milestone of administering 150 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses, PM Modi hails the achievement
New Delhi, January 07
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today congratulated the country for achieving the milestone of administering 150 crore vaccine doses of COVID-19. He said, India is achieving the historic milestone, in the first week of the first month of the year itself.
The Prime Minister was speaking after inaugurating the second campus of Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute (CNCI) in Kolkata through video conference. Mr Modi termed the feat of administering 150 crore vaccine doses as the symbol of the new resolution of India which denotes self confident and self-reliance. He said, as cases are rising due to the omicron variant, this shield of 150 crore vaccines doses becomes all the more important. He mentioned that the country started the year with vaccination for children in the age group of 15 to 18 years.
The Prime Minister said, today, more than 90 percent of India’s adult population has received a single dose of the vaccine. He said, within just 5 days, more than one crore 50 lakh children have also been given the dose of the vaccine. He dedicated this 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.
Mr. Modi said, in the journey of the pledge to make best medical care available to each and every citizen of the country, the government has taken another strong step with the inauguration of new campus of Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute in Kolkata. The Prime Minister said, this 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.
Mr Modi also spoke on the fear that cancer causes in the poor and middle class due to the financial implications. To get the poor out of the vicious circle that the disease causes, the country is taking continuous steps for cheap and accessible treatment. He said, the prices of medicines needed for the treatment of cancer have come down significantly in the last few years. Mr Modi said, more than 8 thousand Jan Aushadhi Kendras are providing medicines and surgical at very affordable rates. He said, over 50 cancer drugs are available at much lower cost in these stores.
The Prime Minister said today Ayushman Bharat scheme is becoming a global benchmark in terms of affordable and inclusive healthcare. Under Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna, more than 2 crore 60 lakh patients have received free treatment in hospitals across the country. Over 17 lakh cancer patients have also been benefited under Ayushman Bharat scheme. The scheme is also promoting early detection and early treatment of the serious diseases through regular screening of diseases like cancer, diabetes and hyper-tension.
The Prime Minister concluded by reiterating his appeal to take every precaution in the fight against Corona.
West Bengal 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.
The second campus of CNCI has been built at a cost of over 540 crore rupees and is in line with the Prime Minister’s vision to expand and upgrade the health facilities in all parts of the country. The Centre has provided 75 percent of the cost while the rest has been provided by the West Bengal government.
The 460 bedded campus is a comprehensive cancer centre unit with cutting edge infrastructure for cancer diagnosis, staging, treatment and care. The campus is equipped with modern facilities like Nuclear Medicine, Radionuclide therapy unit, 128 slice CT scanner and 3.0 Tesla MRI. The campus will also work as an advanced cancer research facility and will provide comprehensive care to cancer patients especially those from Eastern and North-Eastern parts of the country.