The state has also increases the service termination incentive amount from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh. While the decision will benefit 49,522 ASHAs, it will cost the state exchequer an additional Rs 1 48.57 crore annually, a CMO release said.

ASHA workers conduct home visits to educate and support pregnant women. “They have successfully created awareness about various government schemes meant for pregnant and postpartum women. In addition to this, they have been contributing to vaccination and institutional delivery as well,” the release added.

On February 29, the CM announced an increase in the monthly renumeration of Anganwadi workers from Rs 7,500 to Rs 10,000. The exit incentive of Rs 40,000 was also increased to Rs 1 lakh.

On March 2, the monthly remuneration of art instructors and sports teachers of upper primary schools as well as Physically Disabled Education Volunteers Education Volunteers (PHIEV) and multilingual education teachers was also increased. Two days later, the government hiked the monthly salary of Urdu teachers and Urdu resource teachers employed in Upper Primary (UP), Middle English (ME), and government fully-aided and newly-aided high schools of the state from Rs 7,400 to Rs 15,000.

Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena graced the occasion as the Chief Guest, and addressed the employees, and dean-cum-principals of affiliated Medical, and Health Science Institutions of the University. The Odisha University of Health Sciences Act was passed in 2021, and this University was established on 5th March, 2023, and it’s the 17th Health University of the country.

As many as 300 colleges / institutions of the State offering medical, dental, ayurvedic, homoeopathy, nursing, pharmacy and allied paramedical courses have been affiliated to this University from the academic session 2023-24.

State Development Commissioner-Cum-Additional Chief Secretary, Water Resources, and Planning & Convergence Department Anu Garg, Commissioner-Cum- Secretary, Health & Family Welfare Department Shalini Pandit, and Commissioner-Cum- Secretary of Higher Education Department Aravind Agarwal addressed the august gathering.

Vice Chancellor Prof Datteswar Hota informed that the University on completion of its first year has attained the objective set by the state to bring all colleges imparting medical and allied health science courses under one University, and to streamline the quality of education in respective field of studies. He also informed that meanwhile the University has instituted 31 number of Under Graduate and Post Graduate Courses offering 91 Specializations including Broad and Super Speciality and have formulated its Regulations in conformity with apex regulatory bodies wherever exists. He further emphasized on the planned research ecosystem in the medical institutions affiliated to the University. He further endorsed the cooperation and support received from the State government departments in operationalizing the University to a functional one.

In his address, the Chief Secretary has lauded for the progress made by the University during this year. He also praised the University authorities working with commitment by giving importance to quality health education. He suggested that the University should act as a regulator to address various challenges faced by the State including climate change health related issues.

In her key note address, the DC-cum-ACS stated that there is a need to provide varieties of useful training and research through this University in coordination with the Department of Higher Education, Department of Skill Development and Technical Education, Department of H&FW, etc., which will greatly benefit the students pursuing health and medical education. He advised the University authorities on different aspects and hopes this University be a Centre of excellence in coming days.

Registrar of the University Santoshi Sahoo presented the Annual Report of the University, and Comptroller of Finance Goutam Pradhan proposed vote of thanks.

According to sources, Subhajit Sahu suffered a seizure attack on Wednesday while appearing for an exam at his school. He was rushed to Capital Hospital here. He was then admitted to an ICU of a nearby private hospital, where he was kept under observation for 72 hours. His condition improved a little after 24 hours. However, he showed no improvement thereafter and his brain subsequently stopped functioning.

His parents told the media that they want create awareness on organ donation by donating his heart, kidneys, eyes, pancreas and liver. “Our boy will not return but his organs can be used to save many lives,” they added.

On March 1, family of an 18-year-old boy decided to donate his kidneys after he succumbed to brain tumour while undergoing treatment at SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack. Prior to this, parents of two tribal youths, who lost their lives in a road accident, helped illuminate life of others by donating their eyes.

In a first for AIIMS Bhubaneswar, surgeons last month successfully retrieved a liver from a 14-year-old brain-dead girl, Damayanti Mahanta, and then sent it to a hospital in New Delhi through a green corridor. The last rites of Damayanti were performed at Swargadwara in Puri with full state honours on February 24.

Notably, Odisha has been conducting the funeral of organ donors with full state honours to “acknowledge the selfless and heroic contribution”. The initiative was brought into effect by a February 19 notification of the state health and family welfare department, and launched by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

The Chief Minister also laid the foundation stone for the transformation of four medical colleges to provide world-class facilities in the state.

The teaching hospitals inaugurated by the CM are – 650-bed Bhima Bhoi Medical College and Hospital at Balangir, 650-bed Pandit Raghunath Murmu Medical College and Hospital at Baripada, 500-bed Government Medical College and Hospital at Sundargarh, 500-bed Dharni Dhar Medical College and Hospital at Keonjhar and Fakir Mohan Medical College and Hospital with 650 beds in Balasore.

In addition, foundation stones were laid to provide world-class infrastructure in Acharya Harihar Postgraduate Cancer Research Institute at Cuttack, MKCG Medical College and Hospital at Berhampur, Rourkela Government Hospital (RGH) and Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical and Research (VIMSAR) in Burla.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that the launch of these facilities marks a milestone in Odisha’s healthcare sector. A total of 2,950 beds were added in five medical college hospitals in a day. More than Rs 2,000 crore has been spent by the state government for this.

People from Balangir to Baripada, Sundargarh to Keonjhar and Balasore will benefit from this.
Stating that people’s confidence in the state’s healthcare system has increase, Naveen said the aim of the government is to provide good treatment and services to the people.

Stating that there were only three government medical colleges in Odisha, the Chief Minister said that in the last six years, eight new medical colleges and two post-graduate institutes have come up. Three more medical colleges are also going to be established in the coming days.

Every year doctors and paramedic staff are recruited. Earlier, the state was producing only 321 MBBS doctors and 254 specialists. Now, 2525 MBBS doctors and 972 specialists are passing out of different medical colleges in the state, he said.

The Chief Minister further said that the 5T initiative has revolutionised the healthcare sector in the state and hospitals are being developed into ‘Ama Hospitals’ for the benefit of the people.

Speaking on the foundation stone laid for transformation of four medical institutions, the CM said more than Rs 3,400 crore will be spent for this.

Highlighting the current healthcare scheme in the state, he said that every life is precious to me. For this, we have implemented various programs in the field of healthcare, starting from Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY) . New medical facilities are also being developed in government hospitals. Both the rich and the poor are getting free treatment in government hospitals. He said that we all should take this transformation of the healthcare sector further and strengthen the foundation of new Odisha through ‘healthy Odisha, happy Odisha’.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Niranjan Pujari, who was present at Burla, said that the Chief Minister is improving the health infrastructure of the state to provide the best medical facilities to the people. He said that the healthcare system of the state is being taken to the next stage under the 5T initiative to provide better quality and appropriate medical facilities to the people.

The programme was conducted by 5T and Nabin Odisha Chairman V K Pandian.

The agreement has been signed between the institute’s Centre for Development Management and Communication (CDMC) and the Directorate of State Institute of Health & Family Welfare and Directorate of National Health Mission, Government of Odisha under Professional Development Programme (PDP).

Informing about the programme, Dr Biswajit Modak, Senior Consultant, Training, National Health Mission (NHM)-Odisha told media, “The PDP with CDMC-MICA is a need-based capacity building programme for enhancement of skills on Social and Behaviour Change Communication of counsellors working under NHM, Odisha. PDP will promote positive social and health behaviour changes at community level.”

The first workshop under the programme was conducted from January 29 to February 2, 2024, in which 10 officials were trained in graphic designing, art, photography and communication. The second batch of the training programme will be held in the third week of February.

“We are proud to share that we have fostered partnerships with state governments like Gujarat, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Punjab, and Kerala in the past and now a deep association with the Government of Odisha only reinforces our faith in our mission. This association between CDMC and Government of Odisha involves training programs on various facets of communication of over 100 officials,” told Professor Manisha Pathak Shelat and Professor Ruchi Tewari, co-chairs of CDMC said.

Chief Executive Officer of State Health Assurance Society ( SHAS) D Brundha along with Additional Secretary Health & Family Welfare Department and Joint CEO SHAS Subhananda Mohapatra received the award from Chairman, SKOCH, Sameer Kochhar at New Delhi on Saturday evening.

BSKY was conferred with the national award in health sector for its innovativeness, inclusivity, transparency, and effectiveness. The scheme has brought about observable transformation in universal healthcare scenario of Odisha. All 119.8 lakh families of Odisha have been included under BSKY Componenet-1 for free universal treatment, including high-end pathological tests, in all government health facilities, an official release said.

Besides, 99.3 lakh economically vulnerable families with around 3.56 crore members have been brought under the umbrella of BSKY Componenet-2 for cashless treatment in empanelled hospitals both inside and outside the state.

So far, 816 private sector super specialty hospitals from 17 states, including Odisha have been brought under the fold of BSKY, it added.

Health and Family Welfare Secretary Shalini Pandit complemented the BSKY team and urged them to keep up the good works in service of the people with all care and alertness on 24×7 basis.

It may be pertinent to mention here that BSKY had also bagged SKOCH Gold Award for 2019.

The persons who were in insurable employment for at least five years after April 1, 2012, and superannuated or voluntarily retired on or after April 1, 2015 with wages up to Rs 30,000 per month will now be eligible to avail of medical benefits under the new scheme.

The Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) Scheme provides full medical care in the form of medical attendance, treatment, drugs and injections, specialist consultation and hospitalization to insured persons and members of their families.

The ESI Scheme applies to factories and other establishments such as road transport, hotels, restaurants, cinemas, newspaper, shops, and educational/medical institutions in which 10 or more persons are employed

The ESIC meeting, chaired by Labour Minister Minister Bhupender Yadav, also decided to augment medical services and infrastructure in the North-East Region and Sikkim to fulfil the vision of the Act East Policy of the Government.

The ESIC relaxed the existing norms for establishment of dispensaries, medical infrastructure/Regional/Sub Regional Offices in NE states including Sikkim.

To promote holistic wellbeing of the ESI beneficiaries, a new policy on AYUSH 2023 in ESIC institutions was adopted during the meeting. The policy details the establishing of Panchkarma, Kshara Sutra and AYUSH Units in ESIC Hospitals.

Further, in order to strengthen the infrastructure of medical care, approval was given at the meeting for acquisition of lands for construction of 100 bedded hospitals each at Udupi, Karnataka; Idukki, Kerala and a 150 bedded hospital at Malerkotla in Punjab was also accorded.

Besides, it was decided to extend concessions/facilities for non-IPs to avail ESI healthcare services at “Nil” user charges at ESIC Medical Colleges and Hospitals at Alwar, Rajasthan and Bihta, Bihar till March 31, 2025.

The Revised Estimates 2023-24, Budget Estimates 2024-25 and Performance Budget 2024-25 of the ESIC was adopted by the ESI Corporation during the meeting.

The Union Health Minister participated in the inauguration through virtual mode.

With the inauguration of the dharmasala, the patients and their attendants will no longer face problems in arranging accommodation near the hospital. They can stay here at an affordable cost. The three-storey dharmasala building has a capacity of 492 beds in 159 rooms. It has separate male and female blocks with a dining facility.

Similarly, the AIIMS’s Trauma and Emergency department was functioning with 30 beds. Now, the number of beds would go up to 90. The new centre built at a cost of Rs 10 crore, is equipped with inbuilt facilities such as follow-up Clinic, CT SCAN, three modular OTs, Interventional Cath Lab, and other diagnostic services.

The State-Of-The-Art High Energy Linear Accelerator, the HELA Machine, will make a huge difference in cancer care. With this machine, targeting tumors while safeguarding surrounding normal tissues will be easier.

“The State-of-the-art new trauma centre inaugurated today will give quick and efficient treatment facilities to critical accident patients. The HELA Machine will go a long way in treating cancer patients,” said AIIMS Bhubaneswar, Executive Director Dr. Ashutosh Biswas.

“Misuse and overuse of antimicrobials is one of the main drivers in the emergence of drug-resistant pathogens. With few new antibiotics in the Research & Development pipeline, prudent antibiotic use is the only option to delay the development of resistance,” Commssioner-cum-Secretary, Health & Family Welfare Department, Shalini Pandit, said in a letter to directors of the department, superintendents of government-run and private medical colleges and hospitals and CDM & PHOs.

She further said that doctors at medical colleges and peripheral health institutions can set example of judicious use of antimicrobials for the next generation of medical practitioners, who will face this crisis in a much more severe form. “While pharmacists are being reminded to implement the schedule-II and III of the Drugs and Cosmetic Rules and sell antibiotics only on valid prescriptions, it is important that all doctors mention the exact indication on their prescriptions while prescribing antimicrobials,” the letter added.

This comes six days after the Union Health Ministry urged all doctors in medical colleges and medical associations to make it a mandatory practice to “write indication/reason/justification” while prescribing antibiotics. To address the growing issue of antibiotic resistance, Director General of Health Services also appealed to all pharmacists to stop the over-the-counter sale of antibiotics without a prescription by a qualified doctor.

The last date for online registration for BSKY Nabin card has been extended to January 26. Earlier, the last date for application for the health scheme was January 16.

A notification in this regard has been issued by the Health and Family Welfare Department. Health and Family Welfare Secretary, and Chairman State Health Assurance Society, Shalini Pandit has issued an official notification to this effect.

As per the criteria of the scheme, all rural families (except regular government employees, government pensioners and income tax payers) presently not covered under BSKY/ Ration Card are eligible for BSKY Nabin Card.

In order to apply for BSKY Nabin Card, the applicant can visit the website bskynabin.odisha.gov.in for self-registration or visit any Mo Seva Kendra.

The beneficiaries with BSKY Nabin Card are entitled to get cashless treatment for identified critical diseases (Heart Diseases, Kidney Diseases, Liver diseases, Brain Stroke, Severe Head Injury, Brain Tumour, Burns Management, Nerve & Muscle Diseases and Cancer) at all empaneled hospitals both inside and outside Odisha. BSKY Nabin Card will provide cashless treatment of Rs 5 lakh per annum per family and additional Rs 5 lakh for women members of the family. BSKY Nabin Card holders will get cashless coverage at empaneled private hospitals with effect from 1st May 2024.

Existing beneficiaries of BSKY need not apply for BSKY Nabin Card. Their eligibility and entitlements will not change. Newly enrolled beneficiaries of ration card will continue to get auto-enrolled under BSKY, official sources said.