Importance of prioritizing preventive measures and long-term strategies in public health
In the heart of India’s bustling cities and tranquil villages.
There is a silent but significant fight raging on the public health front.
It is not the dramatic triumphs of curative medicine that dominate this story but the quiet victories of preventing diseases such as smallpox polio, neonatal tetanus, and measles, through improved sanitation and vaccines.
These are unsung wins where the absence of illness speaks volumes.
Yet, in a democratic setup, leaders often chase tangible achievements and, inadvertently or otherwise, overlook these vital preventive efforts.
In particular, political leaders across the spectrum have leaned towards initiatives that promise immediate results, such as new hospitals, subsidised treatments in private hospitals, emergency response (over preventive response), and populist health policies.
Many of these measures do not have much of an impact because of a lack of action beyond public announcements.
Which is almost always due to budgetary constraints.
But even before being implemented, these schemes and the focus of our leaders on them divert attention from critical areas such as sanitation, disease surveillance, and public health education.
Which are important to maintain population health and prevent disease outbreaks.
POSHAN Abhiyan scheme
Poshan Abhiyaan was launched on 8 March 2018 from Jhunjhunu, the district of Rajasthan.
Poshan Abhiyaan, or the National Nutrition Mission, is the Government of India’s flagship program to improve nutritional outcomes for children, pregnant women, lactating mothers, and children from 0 to 6 years of age.
The Poshan Abhiyaan scheme plays an important role in tackling malnutrition and providing cooked meals to children.
This scheme replaced the national program for mid-day meals in schools or mid-day meal schemes.
Poshan Abhiyaan is a centrally sponsored scheme that has been launched for a period of five years, from 2021-22 to 2025-26.
Its has a budget of Rs 1.31 trillion.
The centre bears the entire cost of the food grains, their transportation, and management under the PM Poshan scheme.
But the components such as cooking costs and payment to cooks and workers are split in a 60:40 ratio with the state.
The Poshan Abhiyaan 2.0 aims to benefit about 11.80 crores and the children studying in 11.20 lakh schools in the country.
Under this scheme, mid-day meals have been extended to the children of Balvatika in addition to the children studying in classes 1 to 8 in government and government-aided schools in the country.
The extension of mid-day meals to pre-primary students was a key recommendation of the National Education Policy 2020.
Challenges of POSHAN Abhiyan
Lack of credible data on a year-year basis.
Issues with ICDS and Financial Constraints:
Cereal-based Diet.
Social-economic and Cultural challenges.
Lack of nutritional and health awareness.
Sanitation and hygiene.
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