Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said the document will go a long way in strengthening healthcare system.
Health Minister Harsh Vardhan today released a document chronicling the ministry's response to the COVID-19 pandemic between January and November last year.
The document, titled "Chasing the Virus: A Public Health Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic", is a factual narrative of the health systems'' response across the nation to this unprecedented health emergency, the minister said.
In a statement, the ministry said Mr Vardhan expressed his hope that this document will go a long way in strengthening the healthcare system.
"This is a historical moment for all of us. On January 30, we had our first case and today after 1 year and 2 months, we have chased more than 1.2 crore COVID-19 cases. But these are the cases that we have chased. There may be many other cases which may not be in our record. But the matter of happiness is that out of the 1.2 crore cases, 1.13 crore people have recovered," the statement quoted the minister as saying.
Volume-1 of the document captures the various facets of the response spanning pandemic-related actions as well as enabling health systems to provide uninterrupted access to non-COVID-19 essential health services, he said.
"We all know that we have fought this battle with contribution of every stakeholder. It will be difficult to document the efforts put in by all the people in fighting our battle against the pandemic," he said.
On how the success on the front of COVID-19 can be replicated in the fight against tuberculosis, the minister said, "Another goal in front of us is to eliminate tuberculosis by 2025. Our efforts of testing, tracing and treating in COVID-19 can be replicated for treatment of tuberculosis. The experience from the pandemic can be used to achieve the goal of eliminating TB by 2025."
Mr Vardhan extended his good wishes to all those who have been phenomenal and instrumental in the fight against the pandemic.]
He also expressed his hope that this document will go a long way in strengthening the healthcare system, in helping stakeholders to refine their strategies of dealing with pandemics and equip the health systems for the present & future health emergencies, the statement said.