Chief Secretary Anand Bardhan has expressed strong displeasure over the slow progress of the ‘TB-Free India Campaign’ and issued a stern warning to the Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) of the districts. Instructions have been issued to record an adverse entry against CMOs in districts where the percentage of routine patient screening and assessment is below 60 percent. The Chief Secretary has set a target to achieve 100 percent completion of patient screening within the next week, with priority given to high-risk villages. The campaign will now be monitored daily at the level of the Director General (DG) of Health.
Special emphasis was also placed on maternal health during the meeting. The Chief Secretary directed that registration during the first trimester of pregnancy be increased to ensure the timely identification and better management of ‘high-risk pregnancies.’ In view of the monsoon season, he instructed that arrangements be made to shift pregnant women from remote areas to ‘birth waiting homes.’ Suggestions were also made to seek the support of the ‘One Stop Centres’ of the Women and Child Development Department for this purpose. The primary objective of these efforts is to improve antenatal care and reduce the maternal mortality rate to a minimum level. All District Magistrates have been ordered to strictly comply with these directives.
