VINIT WAHI / NEW DELHI
UNION Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan today said, India had one of the lowest cases and deaths per million population due to COVID- 19.
He said that India’s recovery rate now stands at 63.45 per cent and the mortality is at 2.3 per cent. Addressing the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s Health Minister’s digital meet, Dr.Harsh Vardhan said, India didn’t have a single manufacturer of Personal Protective Equipment and now the country has developed indigenous capacity within few months. He said, the country can now export quality PPEs. He said, similar scaling up was also done for achieving other indigenous capacity and reducing the demand and supply gap for ventilators and medical oxygen.
The Minister also highlighted the innovative use of information technology in COVID-19 management. He said, Aarogya Setu app and ITIHAS app has been used for surveillance and identification of potential clusters of disease. He said, RT-PCR app for testing, facility app for managing information on admitted patients and hospital bed capacities all integrated with a single COVID portal.
Dr Harsh Vardhan emphasized on the Indian traditional system of medicine that has contributed substantially in boosting the immunity of population during COVID-19. He proposed the setting up of a new sub group on traditional medicine under the existing institutional meetings of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s Health Ministers. He congratulated all the frontline staff dealing with the pandemics and called them no less than God for humanity.