Lucknow, May 26: The Uttar Pradesh government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is gearing up to tackle all health-related challenges in future, including COVID-19 infection and post-COVID issues like black fungus as well as water and mosquito-borne diseases such as encephalitis and dengue in the rainy season.

The Yogi Government is making maximum use of the available resources while adding new resources and providing the required training for people to achieve its health objective.

The Government is taking every step to ensure the availability of adequate oxygen and ventilators in the state in view of its shortage in the second wave of the pandemic and to avoid further casualties due to the virus. Uttar Pradesh Govt’s ‘Mera Ghar, Mera Vidyalaya’ Scheme Is a Winner, Becoming Role Model for the Country.

It is noteworthy that the Yogi Government not only provided ventilators in all the districts of UP in the first phase of COVID-19, but also deployed anesthetics and technicians to operate them. Besides, in view of the anticipated 30 to 50 percent rise of COVID-19 cases, the Government, in coordination with Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI), is holding training for anesthetics. The CM has also given instructions for providing technician training in districts and to select deserving youth from ITI and Skill Development Centre in order to train them.

Govt taking every step to ensure safety of kids

CM Yogi has directed authorities to prepare an action plan for the vaccination of those whose children are below 12 years of age on a priority basis and to set up a 'parent special' booth in every district while raising people’s awareness about the importance of vaccination. Besides, the Government is working on war footing to set up Paediatrics Intensive Care Units (PICUs) in all medical colleges and district hospitals in order to ensure the best treatment for the children of the state. The Chief Minister is also inspecting them during his divisional visits. Earlier, CM Yogi ordered expediting completion of PICUs and NICUs in all medical colleges. In this context, 100-bedded PICUs are being set up in all 58 medical colleges of the state. A 50-bed NICU is also on the anvil. The Government plans to increase the capacity of hospitals from 1900 beds to 5800. For example, the capacity of the 300-400 bedded government hospitals in Azamgarh, Banda and Jalaun districts will be raised to 700-800.

Emphasis on zero wastage of vaccines

With the firm belief that vaccine is the most effective weapon against COVID-19 and with the objective to vaccinate the entire population at the earliest to eliminate the coronavirus threat from the state, the Yogi Government is leaving no stone unturned to ensure zero wastage of vaccines. It is worth mentioning here that UP was the first state to announce free vaccination and is also number one in the country in terms of number of vaccinations.

Vaccination of people in the age group of 18 to 44 is to begin in all 75 districts of the state on June 1. Furthermore, dedicated vaccination centres will be set up in every district for vaccination of front-line corona warriors, in addition to judicial service people as well as media representatives. The Government is also preparing a plan to vaccinate government employees, bank workers and teachers, who are more prone to infection due to the nature of their works.

The CM has directed authorities to chalk out an effective month-long action plan for the vaccination in view of the above-mentioned facts.

Govt braces for tackling diseases in rainy season

Meanwhile, the Yogi Government is also preparing itself to deal with diseases like encephalitis and dengue that occur mainly during the rainy season due to contamination of water and mosquitoes especially in the Purvanchal area of UP. The Government is carrying out cleanliness, sanitisation and fogging drives regularly to rid the region of the threat of water and mosquito-borne diseases during the upcoming rainy season.

CM orders setting up of Post COVID centres in all districts

Concerned over the variety of physical and mental issues facing recovered COVID-19 patients, CM Yogi has ordered setting up of post-Covid centres in every district of the state as soon as possible with the deployment of doctors. The number of such patients is quite high in UP. The centres will have a dedicated post-Covid ward while the recovered patients will be provided with medicines and food for free as well.

414 oxygen plants approved for UP

The Yogi Government has taken up the establishment of oxygen plants in the state with utmost seriousness based on the experience in the second wave of the pandemic. So far, the Government has got approval for setting up 414 oxygen plants, of which 51 have already started running. The respective district administrations of the rest of the plants have also been directed to set up the plants and start operating as soon as possible. The Government’s consistent efforts have helped strike a balance between the demand and supply of oxygen in UP. Oxygen audits conducted by seven institutes of technology in the state have helped prevent waste.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 26, 2021 02:22 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).