Bangalore: Under pressure from areca growing states, the Congress led UPA government at the Centre has decided to put on hold the proposal to ban the sale of arecanut.
Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad who was here to review central schemes, told reporters that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and health and family welfare minister, U.T. Khader met him and apprised him of the situation. "We do not want to proceed with the proposal. We will hold it," Azad said.
He said Kerala and Goa were doing a good job in the healthcare sector and Karnataka and other states should emulate them to provide international standard healthcare services. The minister also said that the centre would help the state to set up cancer hospitals in Mandya and Gulbarga and these centres would be attached to the government medical colleges. "Two Super-speciality hospitals will be set up, one at Hubli and the other at Bellary spending Rs 300 crore," Azad said.
He explained in detail how the UPA-I and UPA-II tried to provide better healthcare facilities and services which resulted in improving the condition of people. "Due to continuous intervention, infant mortality has come down from 80/1000 in 2004 to 42 in 2013. Similarly, maternal mortality rate has come down from 254 in a lakh to 117."
According to Azad, the National Rural Health Mission was doing a good job.
In all, the upgradation or construction of over 50,000 new hospitals have been completed under NRHM. Across the country, over 19,000 ambulances are now plying under the 108 scheme.
