Health ministry joins clean drive

New Delhi: In a bid to provide up-to-date medical and sanitation services in villages, the ministry of health and family welfare and ministry of drinking and sanitation have joined hands to provide better sanitation so as to bring better health outcomes.

According to the new “convergence programme”, Swachchh Swasthya Sarwatra which will launched on Thursday, in over 700 open defecation-free (ODF) blocks, the health ministry under the National Health Mission (NHM) will make sure that the community health centres (CHCs) falling in those blocks achieve high quality medical services.

“The objective is to make those CHCs high quality in terms of infection control and hygiene,” said an official.

On the other hand, the CHCs, which are doing well under the health ministry’s Kaya Kalp programme that aims at promoting cleanliness, hygiene and infection control, practices in the public health care facilities, the ministry of drinking water and sanitation will make those areas open defecation-free.

According to the government data, five per cent of DALYs (disability-adjusted life years) can be avoided by providing and ensuring proper drinking and sanitation facilities. “This is one such programme reciprocatory to the community. Where community is coming forward by making the area ODF, we will provide a CHC of very high quality in terms of infection control and hygiene,” added the official.

There are about 670 public health centres (PHCs) which will be made ODF free. These include all the kaya kalp awarded facilities. The health ministry had earlier introduced awards under the kaya kalp scheme for those two best district hospitals, CHCs and PHC in every district that are maintaining good quality hygiene, cleanliness and infection control practices.

Significantly, representatives of about 708 CHCs and 670 PHCs will be trained in sanitation, hygiene, infection control with the help of the Unicef. The ministers of both the ministries will launch the programme on December 29.