Pune: Prakash Abitkar, minister of public health & family welfare, on Tuesday launched ‘Mazhe Gaav, Aarogya Sampann Gaav’ (my villega, health prosperous village) at Smt. Kashibai Navale Medical College and General Hospital in Narhe.The primary objective of the initiative is to create health awareness across Maharashtra by promoting people’s participation.“This campaign will transform the face of rural Maharashtra and make quality healthcare available for all citizens at their doorstep,” Abitkar said while expressing confidence in the initiative.“The public health department has manpower as well as various effective schemes available. It is necessary for them to reach as many people as possible. A large amount of funds has been spent on the Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Jan Arogya Yojana and it is now been made mandatory to implement it at all primary health centres. The health department is providing services such as ECG and dialysis free of cost,” Abitkar said.“It is the collective responsibility of all of us to ensure that these services reach needy citizens and patients,” Abitkar added.The minister noted that the HPV vaccination campaign for cervical cancer prevention has currently been carried out in the state and it was essential to effectively counter misinformation that was being spread on social media about this campaign.Furthermore, a divisional-level training workshop was also organized at the venue for district-level office bearers, officers and staff, to ensure successful implementation of this campaign.Senior officials and experts provided detailed guidance on the campaign’s objectives, implementation framework and responsibilities of various stakeholders, among other things.Officers and staff from the health department of Pune, Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Kolhapur, Satara and Sangli districts participated in the workshop.Pune Zilla Parishad president Veerdhwal Baba Jagdale, while expressing his views, said because of Model PHCs, good healthcare delivery has been initiated in Pune district.“The role of ‘Patient Welfare Committees’ at the grassroots level is extremely important for this,” he said. He said that now when the Zilla Parishad elections have been concluded, these committees should be reactivated. Pune Zilla Parishad chief executive officer Gajanan Patil also highlighted the importance of raising health awareness in rural areas.
