Government claims health initiatives benefitting masses

New Delhi: To reduce out of pocket expenditure in public health facilities, the government is promoting the use of several initiatives such as the Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (JSSK), the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK), the expansion of Universal Immunisation Programme, free emergency referral services and the NHM-Free Drugs Service Initiative and the NHM-Free Diagnostic Service Initiative.
It is also providing health insurance coverage under the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna, which offers Below Poverty Line (BPL) families up to Rs. 30,000/- per family per year.
Since health is a state subject, the government says that such proposals have to be formulated at the state level, especially as the Clinical Establishments (Regulation and Registration) Act, 2010 has not been adopted by many states.
Meanwhile, in a related development, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), has said that men are more prone to mouth cancer and women to breast cancer.
According to data provided by the ICMR, deaths due to lung cancer account for 14.7 percent of all cancer deaths in males and are the top cause of cancer deaths for men in the country.
Deaths due to cervical cancer account for 24.1 percent and breast cancer account for 16.3 percent of all female cancer deaths.