NDTV and Dettol have been jointly working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. In the eighth year, the campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind.
Here are the highlights of Swasth Bharat, Sampann Bharat Telethon with Amitabh Bachchan:
That's a wrap on the Swasth Bharat, Sampann Bharat Telethon. We will be back next year. We leave you with this rocking performance of Rapper, composer and TV personality Raftaar
Dettol curriculum is in 75% of all primary schools in India: Laxman Narasimhan, CEO, Reckitt
On technology this team has the big ambition of tripling the impact. We have to focus on prevention. Technology provides an amazing opportunity for us. On prevention what we are doing with technology are three points - if I look at information and we have expertise, we are infusing information into vernacular languages through a variety of platforms. Second is trading of frontline. Third is school children. Dettol curriculum is in 75 per cent of all primary schools in India but that is not enough. The ambition to triple the impact is only possible through technology.
Abhijit Banerjee, Nobel Laureate In Economics Joins The Swasth Bharat, Sampann Bharat Telethon
Gaurav Jain, Senior Vice President – South Asia, Reckitt on the work done so far and the plan for the futureUnder the Banega Swasth India campaign, we have had a journey of seven years and we directly impact 50 million a year. In the next five years, we want to triple the impact and make it 150 million. We are in 650 thousand school. We are in madrasas and will cover all 9,000 of them. We want to clean waterways and do that in the next three years.
Under the Birds and bees programme - we reach 3 million today and want to reach 15 million that is all of north east. We plan to reach 7 million kids through white hat junior partnership. 10 million new mother through a partnership with UN women. In UP we are targeting diarrhoea under 5 and we will achieve that goal.
Banega Swasth India Season 8: Political leaders, experts and celebrities discuss the way forward towards a healthier and prosperous nation
As we near the end of the 12-hour Swasth Bharat, Sampann Bharat telethon, Prasoon Joshi, Poet, Writer, Lyricist, Padma Shri Awardee who penned the campaign anthem talks about how the pandemic has united the world
Muppets Elmo and Chamki Spread Awareness About Mental Health Issues In Children
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai talks about the learnings from the COVID-19 pandemic
Pandemic always gives us lot of lessons. The shortcomings of the government health infrastructure were exposed. We learnt health infrastructure is very important. Not only in terms of building equipment but human resources - doctors, nurses, lab experts as well. Second lesson we learnt is that pandemic is like a war-like situation. If community has to come together, then only we can face it bravely and squarely
Manish Sisodia, Deputy Chief Minister, Delhi on Swasth Bharat, Sampann Bharat telethon
In Delhi, education and health have been our priority sector. We formed the first government in 2015 and since then we started spending 25 per cent of the budget on education and 20 per cent on health. After witnessing the waves of Covid pandemic, I now wonder if we had not spent on health in the last six-seven years in the form of mohalla clinics, medical colleges, what the situation would have been during the pandemic. The money spent on health benefitted us during the pandemic.
Aaditya Thackeray, Environment Minister, Maharashtra Joind Swasth Bharat, Sampann Bharat telethon
We have been terribly hit by Covid. What we realised very soon is that it is a pandemic and numbers will be high. In that case, we have to be transparent with people and help them. Secondly, we trusted science. There was a lot of back and forth when do you go into lockdown. Go into a staggered manner and come out in a staggered manner. If you ask anyone in the state today, they know we are going by what science says.
'Extremely important to educate girls,' says Taapsee Pannu, Actor on Swasth Bharat, Sampann Bharat telethon
You have to start from the start. It is extremely important to educate girls. They should know their rights, what their real strength is. I identified that as a root cause from where it begins. I wanted to instill that confidence in them that they have the right on themselves. It is very important to impart education so that they know their right, their duties, and their expectations
Vithika Yadav, Country Head, Love Matters talks about the stigma associated with 'sex' and the need for sex education in India
Conrad Sangma, Chief Minister, Meghalaya Joins The Swasth Bharat, Sampann Bharat Telethon
N Biren Singh, Chief Minister, Manipur talks about how the Government of Manipur is pushing for inclusive development
Abhina Aher, Transgender activist, I-TECH India on the right of the members of the LGBTQIA+ community
We have been fighting for transgender rights for over two decades now. After various changes that has happened in India, we face a lot. In 2014, for the first time, we got a separate identity and were considered as the third gender. We are still struggling for inclusion. If you pick any news or data, you will see information how Covid has affected women. But you won't find any data on how Covid has affected transgender people. Trans people are seen begging on roads but these are the same people who helped police in implementing lockdown.
We have right to social welfare, good health and dignity. We are not talking about small universe. If you look at data for transgender, the last mapping was done in 2011. My community is extremely impacted. Transgender community is not just about hijara. That's an umbrella term. We have various identities like transmen, transwomen, etc.
Prince Manvender Singh Gohil, Founder, Lakshya talks about the initiatives undertaken by him during the Covid pandemic
One of the major challenges we have faced during the pandemic is that a lot of us are forced to be in our homes. To escape marriage pressure, we try to live independently but here we were forced to live with families and that led to parents harassing their children for marriage 24x7 and that led to a lot of mental health issues. I got calls of distress of which some people were contemplating suicide. For people below the poverty line, we managed to provide ration to the members of the community. We work for HIV-positive people as well. We provided them treatment at home. The Government of Gujarat also provided us help. You cannot stop treatment as it can have consequences.
Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director, UNAIDS joins the Swasth Bharat, Sampann Bharat Telethon
Education is empowering for young people particularly so for young women and girls. We know we have had so many studies especially in India, just how education is a game changer for young girls - it prevents early marriage and early pregnancy. It gives girls right to be free of sexual violence. But education is alone not enough. You need to have comprehensive sexuality education which is often opposed by conservative forces. You need to take out toxic masculinity out of school space. It's important to keep all girls and boys in the school upto the end of secondary school. By keeping girls in school, they are less to suffer violence, she is able to control her fertility, she can earn that keeps her and her family safe and healthy. Complete education for girls has many outcomes for girls and her family.
People from rich societies don’t show up for justice against sexual abuse: Trisha Shetty, Founder, SheSays 
For us, change is two step forward, five steps back. We had a case of child less than 10 years of age who had been raped and it took us over three years of running from police stations to courtrooms and helping the family on ground to get justice, to get a guilty sentenced and 10 year conviction. This is case of metropolitan city. The father of the victim said, the person who raped my child has sexually abused other children as well.
People from rich societies don't show up for justice. They believe 'ghar ki baat ghar me rehne do'. First thing is to own our truth. I am glad you are talking about inequality. Have these honest conversations and hold men in our own circle accountable. We need to unlearn things and hold our elected leaders to account to do better. Hold institutions to provide us justice, to ensure we are safe, to ensure you well safe walking down the street, make sure quality education.
Shireen Jejeebhoy, Director, Aksha Centre for Equity and Wellbeing Vice President, International Union for the Scientific Study of Population & Board member, Plan India joins the Swasth Bharat, Sampann Bharat telethon
When there is confusion, there can be frustration: Dilen Gandhi, Regional Marketing Director, South Asia, Health & Nutrition, Reckitt on lack of information and misinformation during the pandemic
Whenever we make any communication, we ensure there is an emotional connect. When the pandemic started, people were not sure what needs to be done. We decided to provide the right information to people. We realised that when there is confusion, there can be frustration. We converted the message into small videos and shared on social media. The campaign reached out to 350 million people. People created their own videos to spread the message.
In the second wave, everyone knew what needs to be done - handwashing, distancing, etc. this time we thought that hook for us should be hope. The stories of hope. We said that there is a message here that is not being spread out. How can we take this message. We took our handwash packs, dropped the logo and added stories of everyday people on it. we took 100 of stories. First, we did it online and then we made it physically available in 5 lakh stores. Later, we also set up a website where people could nominate their own heroes. I think stories were a way to express gratitude but also to create a sense of communal hope.
Ranjan Dora, Volunteer, IndiaShield talks about being a working and helping people during the second wave of COVID-19
The collective passion of absolute strangers coming together to save one life made me want to volunteer. We would see helplessness everywhere. Families were distressed and it only felt right to your do bit. It isn't something that you are used to doing or had planned to do ever. All of us were working restlessly finding beds, ambulances, etc and give them one tiny ray of hope. However, it would also mean witnessing death. How do you forget loss and continue helping people. Many of us would also get attached to families going through tough times.
I remember a mother of a 21-year-old boy with severe Covid screaming at me and saying, what are you doing Ranjan? When will we get an injection? Once I was asked to choose between two patients and provide ICU bed.
There is high level of satisfaction even when one life is saved. I had a breaking point when I lost a family member. At the same time, someone called me and screaming at me saying, I am standing outside with my mother and I will lose her if we don't get a bed. Eventually, he lost his mother.
Masaba Gupta and muppets share a tip to deal with mental stress
Dr Prashant Saxena, Director & Head, Pulmonology & Sleep Medicine, Max Smart Hospital shares his experience of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic
Being a doctor I believe it is one of the most physically, emotionally and mentally demanding profession. This COVID-19 pandemic tested us. We were not fully prepared for the second wave. There was stress and anxiety. We were concerned about our family members so we were in quarantine regularly, living in different houses. In a lot of societies, doctors were discriminated. We lost a lot of doctors. There was burnout, insomnia, exhaustion. There was a time I was seeing over 100 patients a day. No time to sleep. But I think we still managed to do well to tackle the situation faced during the second wave.
Dr Anjali Chhabria, Psychiatrist, Director, Mind Temple Institute shares insights on mental health and mental wellbeing
October 3-10 is mental health week. I am happy that we are finally discussing psychiatric disorders. We need to give emotional health as much importance as we are giving to physical health. There is no health without mental health. We need governments to have programmes, going house to house and checking what's happening with people. senior citizens, healthcare workers have been affected. They might not know that they have been affected because on the surface they might seem normal. But we need to come up with strong mental health ambassadors to tell people that yes, if you have a problem, go and meet mental health professionals. Take medicine if you need. Don't shy away from taking medicines.
Jitender Singh Shunty, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Sewa Dal, Padma Shri Awardee talks on mental health and the trauma faced during the second wave of COVID-19, at the Swasth Bharat, Sampann Bharat telethon
It is a very trying time for all of us, especially for the frontline workers: Captain Usha Banerjee, Director of Nursing, Apollo Hospitals
It is a very trying time for all of us, especially for the frontline healthcare workers. They are right there at the side of the bed of the sick and ailing. Many a times patients are left by their families. For the young doctors and nurses, it is really traumatic to see someone die. All healthcare workers have been put to stress and trauma. There is always this fear of the unknown; the impending fear. I think it calls for a different DNA to handle the mammoth task that we have on our hands. Young people coming to work without knowing what's in store for them, we salute them.
Fashion Designer and Actor Masaba Gupta talks about isolation during the Covid pandemic
Isolation is a very charming thing for the privileged but not a very happy experience for those who are not privileged. For me, the last two years have been liberating. As a small business owner, I had to think of my employees as well. We were working throughout the pandemic. I internalized and discovered so many things about myself as an entrepreneur and daughter. I had the privilege to feel liberated. I think we have become kinder to each other and more aware about mental health issues which is and was a taboo. Today people come and talk about mental health issues which were earlier pushed under the carpet. Today, girls and women are talking about their mental health issues and have set boundaries. Setting boundaries is a big part of mental health.
Abhinav Bindra, India's first individual Olympic gold medalist and Padma Bhushan and Khel Ratna Awardee joins the Swasth Bharat, Sampann Bharat telethon
Singer and actor Monali Thakur performs at the Swasth Bharat, Sampann Bharat telethon
India has lost 95% of its vulture population: Abhishek Chaudhary, Member, One Health High Level Expert Panel 
In 1990s vetenary doctors started giving a particular injection to cattle. So, when the cattle die and vulture feed on it, the component of that injection go in the vulture. This resulted in deaths of vultures. India has lost 95 per cent of its vulture population. Because vultures population decreasing, population of rodents increased and in turn we saw increase in the cases of rabies.
Also, if we look at our food consumption, rice and wheat are our staple but a lot of water is used to grow these. So, why don't we focus on coarse grains like maize which uses less water and fertilisers. The government needs to provide incentive for both consumption and production of such crop. We need to train and make young generation come and take up sustainable development. We have to nudge them to enter this sector.
Adar Poonawalla, CEO, Serum Institute of India at the Swasth Bharat, Sampann Bharat telethon
'We have recorded a 68% decline in species of wildlife population since 1970', Highlights Ravi Singh, Secretary General & CEO, WWF India
If you look at it holistically, we need to act with certain amount of speed and some amount of direction with certain objectives. You see the living planet report of WWF, we have recorded a 68 per cent decline in species of wildlife population since 1970. There is need for speed in action, increased protection and conservation efforts. We need to produce and consume more sustainably. The message is that we cannot expect all actions only from government. We should hold our institutions, individuals and municipalities also responsible.
Craig Foster, Oscar winning Producer And Pippa Ehrlich, Oscar winning director For 'My Octopus Teacher' Join The Swasth Bharat, Sampann Bharat Telethon
Manisha Patankar Mhaiskar, Principal Secretary, Environment & Climate Change, Maharashtra talks about how the state is planning to address the climate change
As soon as the United Nation's IPCC report came, we made a presentation to the cabinet and the cabinet is realising three things:
•Climate change is real
•Climate change is here
•The time to act is now
Our minister says that this is the last decade that anything meaningful could be done about climate change. Maharashtra council for climate change will be chaired by the Chief Minister. There are five sectors which need to act if we are thinking of carbon neutral future. First is decarbonizing out power which can be done by depening less on thermal power. Energy department will present their plan for this. We need to make our transport electric. Maharashtra has EV policy. We need to make our cities livable. We need to make our industries and agriculture sustainable.
Jane Goodall, Primatologist, Founder, Jane Goodall Institute, UN Messenger of Peace joins Swasth Bharat, Sampann Bharat telethon
NDTV's Alok Pandey captures how the Banega Swasth India campaign is fighting diarrhoea among children in Shravasti, an underdeveloped district of Uttar Pradesh bordering Nepal
Ravi Bhatnagar, Director External Affairs & Partnerships, South Asia, Reckitt on digital health records
As we have shifted from 'swachh India' to 'swasth India', it becomes more important to have digital health records. We have created AI-based chatbot. It is used by children in schools. Any question that you have growing up, you can ask. India has a large number of key population group impacted and affected by HIV. We have created an app, you have to answer 10 questions, it will tell you how much risk you have and the nearby health facility you can visit.
Digital recording of the cases is helpful. If there is a QR code, the doctor can know basic details, thus, saving time. For example, if a child had diarrhoea, how many times in the last 2 years.
Hygiene Buddy Kit - A Fun Way To Learn About The Importance of Hygiene
'The Yellow Diary' band performs at the Swasth Bharat, Sampann Bharat telethon to spread the message that diseases do not discriminate and that we all must come together to fight against COVID-19
Meet the 'Kid Tech Champs' who are among the 50 children who will receive a Rs. 50,000 scholarship for developing apps that reimagine health and hygiene solutions
NDTV's Rajiv Makhani interacts with the children who participated in WhiteHat Jr initiative"We were amazed by the depth and breadth of ideas and these children worked on. They thought of problems we didn't think existed."
Trupti Mukker, CEO, WhiteHat Jr talks about the initiative that encourages children to apply coding for solving sanitation and hygiene problems
When we launched this initiative, we were very confident that children across India will be keen to use this platform. Each day of the competition, the number of ideas, problems children were trying to solve kept increasing. The length and breadth of the competition amazed us.
On Swasth Bharat, Sampan Bharat telethon, experts discuss about how environment and health are interlinked
NDTV's Sanket Upadhyay learns some basic Bharatnatyam techniques to release stress at work
Suchitra Date, Psychologist, Bharatnatyam danseuse & social worker talks about treatment through dance therapy
Aditi Hazra, Associate Epidemiologist, Brigham and Women's Hospital & Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical Schooll explains about Genome Sequencing 
Genome sequencing is technology that we can use to understand the complete sequence and order of a virus. Humans have a 3 billion DNA basis. Virus has 30,000 RNA basis and they are represented as chemical ladders. As it spread from person to person, it was replicating itself. Occasionally it would make an error in that copy like a spelling error and that could have a different meaning. We saw that during spring surge. Delta variant is more transmissible and attaching to human more robustly. Although other variants are also emerging, sequencing allows us to track those.
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Executive Chairperson & Founder, Biocon Joins Swasth Bharat, Sampann Bharat telethon
Technology is actually transferring the way we look at health in many ways. I am glad we are focusing on wellness and not just treating illness. The health of a nation can really improve if we focus on wellness. Now sensors are helping you to track the amount you exercise. Even during pandemic, we used an oximeter to check oxygen levels in the blood. We used so many devices to track our well-being. Today, a lot of technology-led solutions for health are approved by FDA. Technology is not only going to play an important role but is already playing in India where we have a huge deficit of medical infrastructure.
Actress Ananya Panday shares about her social media initiative ‘So Positive’
NDTV’s Alok Pandey visits a school in Lucknow to capture how a Banega Swasth India initiative is using games to spread awareness about hand hygiene among children
Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma speaks at the Swasth Bharat, Sampann Bharat Telethon on challenges faced in conducting immunisation programmes in the state
Normal immunisation programme for children has 3 categories - some children take the first vaccine and leave other two. There are myths that vaccines can do so and so thing in our children. In some areas regular immunisation is not possible. For COVID-19 vaccination, Rajasthan has cold chain points, storage centers. Initially, people were scared. Now, 78 per cent have got the first dose and 39-40 per cent have got the second dose.
Film director Rohit Shetty talks about his advertorial that focused on hygiene
It all started because nobody knew about how to fight the pandemic. We had a chat with the Chief Minister, few doctors and then we went to Mr Bachchan and made a video to give basic guidance. By April-May, we started losing a lot of cops to COVID-19. We saw almost 95 police persons succumb to the pandemic. It was mainly because they were the frontline workers who could not go home because at that time there was no vaccine and there was less information about Covid. So, we took the initiative and booked eight hotels for the cops to have a safe space to rest after finishing their duty.
Here is how NDTV-Dettol Banega Swasth India's floating dispensary is making a difference in Sundarbans, West Bengal
Ravi Bhatnagar, Director External Affairs & Partnerships, South Asia, Reckitt talks about Dettol hygiene impact bonds on Swasth Bharat, Sampann Bharat telethon
These bonds are the first of its own kind in the world. These are called Dettol hygiene impact bonds. If you read the latest statistics, UP has 400 thousand malnourished kids which is the highest. It is important to invest judiciously. You have X number of lives to be saved each quarter. Based on that funding will be there. We intend to take it to all 75 districts of UP. If this model is successful, we will be taking it to other countries through Reckitt.
The basic fundamental is to follow WHO's 7 point guide which includes - handwashing, sanitation, the introduction of zinc as therapy of diarrhoea. The use of zinc in up among 0-5 kids for diarrhoea treatment has picked up to 7-8 per cent. The kind of water intake also matters. The government of UP is working very positively with us. If this model works well, this will be a model for other funding mechanisms as well.
Here's the story of the solar drying project by UN Women and S4S Technologies which is turning women who earlier worked in fields or stayed at home into entrepreneurs in Maharashtra's Jalgaon district
Gaurav Gupta, Chief Commissioner of Civic Body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike on the role of Bengaluru's fight against Covid
Dr Gagandeep Kang, Virologist shares insights on how to prepare for future pandemics
First is to build up surveliiance system that shares data across the world. We don't have that right now. This is not limited to genomic data but the number of severe cases, death. in india we have a problem doing that. secondly, be prepared for pandemics by making vaccines. The next pandemic will be a virus. Can be identified by 2025 families of viruses that which will come. One of the initiatives that I am involved is to see if we can make a vaccine in 100 days than 11 months. I think it's feasible. We have to get everybody connected. When we look at water, sanitation and hygiene sectors, those are the ones that make a difference to society. Households that the ability to have sufficient soap and water and have fewer children getting disease. Less disease means going to school regularly and that means getting educated.
Dr RS Sharma, CEO, National Health Authority & Head, CoWin App Explains Benefits Of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission
The pandemic has changed the way we look at not only the health part but everything else. People are doing teleconsultation in much more number, doing video call and showing reports. Pandemic has been a disaster but at the same time there has been a silver lining. Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission launched by PM Modi on September 27 aims to use the internet and technology in a better way for the delivery of healthcare services. People can consult doctors through teleconsultation, share their digital records, prescription and purchase medicines. we are creating a health ID and a service where all their medical records will be linked to the health ID. This way longitudinal record will be created. in terms of diagnostic I would like to say that machines can help doctors in analysing various reports. secondly, you can connect with doctors through telecommunication. thirdly, in India we have created digital signature through which you can remotely sig and share documents. then there is digital lockers and digital payments as well. supporting artifacts and work we have done will help us in ensuring the success of ayushman digital health mission. Digitalisation will have to be accelerated. I feel, we have that kind of environment in our country and can further push the digital push that Covid has given and leverage it.
Kiran Bedi, Former IPS officer & LG of Puducherry on why people should take the responsibility of keeping their surrounding clean
It's the people who litter and have littered. They create dirt and then suffer and complain about government's incompetency. Why are you increasing the government's work? First you yourself are creating a problem and then complaining about it. Why do you throw waste in drains? Why don't you use dustbins so that garbage collectors can collect it? So, it's very important for people to create problems for themselves. Either you will say that it's your neighbor who creates waste. If neighbor does it then there should be a complaint system.
If you are clean then it's everything. If you are not clean, then you are not healthy. Cleanliness and health are two sides of the same coin. You are healthy because you are clean. If you are clean, you will be healthy and that will lead to more work and earning. But if you are not clean or hygienic, you won't be healthy and that will result in reduced income. In fact, your money will be spent on your treatment and healthcare. Only if you will stay clean and healthy, Lakshmi, known as the goddess of wealth and purity, will come to your house. Therefore, it is your selfishness to stay clean and healthy. If you start believing in cleanliness, your mentality will also be clean. you behaviour also starts becoming clean. your surroundings also start to become clean. you will talk pure.
Covid heightened awareness and made people talk a lot about hand hygiene: Dilen Gandhi, Regional Marketing Director, South Asia, Health & Nutrition, Reckitt
Roderico Ofrin, WHO Representative for India, says the awareness about hand-washing in India has really grown during the pandemic
Availability of food doesn’t equate to accessibility: Bishow Parajuli, UN World Food Programme Country Director, India 
India has various programmes and lots of efforts ongoing. In past some years there has been some decline but the rate of decline of malnutrition has not been able to meet United Nation's Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger. Programmes by governments including the recent announcement on fortification of supplementary food, PM POSHAN will help. Also, extra efforts have been there with regard to PM Garib Kalyan Yojana. Challenge in the context of India has been its republic and diversified population. A lot of people have lost jobs during COVID-19. Availability of food doesn't equate to accessibility. Production of food has increased from 50 million tonnes to 300 million tonnes but the intake of diversified food has been much lower.
Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog talks about the aspirational districts programme on the Swasth Bharat, Sampann Bharat telethon
There has been a parallel increase in unhealthy dietary habits in our population, both in urban and rural areas: Dr R Hemalatha, Director, National Institute of Nutrition – ICMR
Dr S Shantha Kumari, President, Federation of Obstetric & Gynaecological Societies of India highlighted how violence against women affects their health and immunity
Violence against women is definitely one of the most shameful human rights violations. And we know that it knows no boundaries of geography, culture or wealth, and we've seen during the COVID time that violence against women has increased manifold. We need to understand the effect of this violence against women and how it's affecting women's health. Especially women who are pregnant. It impacts the health of the woman when she's pregnant and it increases maternal morbidity and mortality. It can lead to abortions. It can lead to so many other mishaps during pregnancy. And when you look at it, at our country how is it that our sexual & reproductive rights are affected. Right from the womb to the tomb. You know, we find the female foeticide, it starts right from when the girl child is there, female child battery, female infanticide, female abortions. And when the girl is growing up, it can lead to child marriages, female genital mutilation, sexual psychological abuse, incest. And as the child is growing up, we now find that even in adolescence & adulthood, there is dating violence, courtship violence, sexual abuse at the workplace. And sometimes, unfortunately these days we find even cyber crime is also increasing. And we find this has a wide impact on the overall health of the woman. That's the reason why have to actually sensitise our OB-GYNs and everyone at large, that violence affects a woman's health at large.
Dr Preetha Reddy, Vice Chairperson, Apollo Hospitals discussed about skilling and empowering women on Swasth Bharat, Sampann Bharat telethon
I come from a family of strong women. I think Swasth Bharat has to be a Sampan Bharat because women have to join the workforce. They are strong and capable of working. The DNA of Indian women is to put everybody before her. The focus and communication hasn't been there and that's a low hanging fruit. It has to be communicated that pregnant mother has to be looked after in terms of health. I know health is a state subject. Every state has to be mandated to do for women's nutrition. The drive for vaccination has been at the forefront for women and that has been a pleasant surprise. India has the power of large workforce of being economically self-sufficient. In my dad's village, they did some amazing thing with women that they stopped alcohol. Health and nutrition have to become a natural coexistence for women and I am sure we can do that.
Muppets Elmo and Chamki, through humour and a song, share a message on how to stay safe by adopting health habits
Hit hard by the pandemic, flute player Murli Narayanan had to turn to carpentry. Watch him render a soulful rendition and also sing.
Dr Raj Bhandari, Member, National Technical Board of Nutrition & Health, NITI Aayog, says nutrition assumes a very important role
Undernourishment has increased worldwide because of COVID-19, according to the World Health Organisation
Good nutrition means good life: Basanta Kumar Kar, Recipient of Global Nutrition Leadership Award
Worldwide malnutrition outcomes are deeply unfair. There are some people who are more malnourished than others. If you want to really transform the first 1,000 days, it starts from antenatal care till 2 years of age of the child. Good nutrition means good life. For a pandemic-free society, you need malnutrition-free society. Good nutrition can bring growth, improve GDP. For the survival and thrive of the child, the first 1,000 days are important. you also need to invest in the second window of opportunity that is adolescent girls. First 1,000 days build the foundation.
Pregnant mothers need one extra meal, rest, regular check-up and good care. Evidence suggests that mental health has bearing on low birth weight. 80 per cent of rapid brain growth happens in the first two years of life. They need one additional meal because in India around 50 per cent of the total children are born with low birth weight. When a child is born, it is very unfortunate that exclusive breastfeeding is around 45 per cent.
Public health specialist Dr Jyoti Vajpyee talks about the many stages of women's life
Leaving No One Behind: Members of India's first transgender football team in Imphal share their stories with NDTV's Ratnadip Choudhury
A beautiful performance by Musician Nathu Khan Bagadwa's folk group captivates the entire audience at the of the Swasth Bharat, Sampann Bharat Telethon
Artist Nathu Khan urging people to wash their hands
Safety First, Safety Always.. Muppets Chamki And Elmo Of Sesame Workshop India Teach The COVID-19 Handshake
Shravan Subramanyam, President & CEO, GE Healthcare, India & South Asia talks about the importance of skill-building
There is a lot that we need to do to sustain the habits. A lot of work has been done and more can be done. Since independence we have relied on public health. I think next 75 years should be about empowered consumers. We need to learn from the best. We have great guidelines from WHO and other countries. We need to continue invest in technologies. We work with governments to skill build and train particularly mothers so that they know health requirements of family.
According to experts, nutritional deficiencies impacts the economy. Here's how
Many women are still not connected to digital solutions, healthcare infrastructure: Ajaita Shah, Founder & CEO, Frontier Markets 
A lot of what was said earlier still applies to rural women. They are not connected to digital solutions, healthcare infrastructure. They live in 7,500 villages in India. All the barriers women have, these women have as well. Rural women have the challenge of infrastructure. Because of the lack of infrastructure in the capital, it is hard to reach. What has been interesting with working with 'Sahelis' is that they are ready for change. They have become health champions, social influencers. They have been saying, give us the opportunity to tackle self-care. We can bridge the gap. Our Sahelis are connected with self-help groups. 165 million women are part of this group. These women are saying, give me the tools, I have the technology.
Parul Ohri, Chief Editor & CEO, Momspresso speaks on mothers not caring for themselves
Know about Champion In Me, a sports initiative by Bangalore School Sports Foundation exclusively for school children and youth living with HIV
Ravi Bhatnagar, Director, External Affairs & Partnerships SOA, Reckitt, talks about the Reach Each Child campaign, an initiative to fight malnutrition in the interiors of Maharashtra
Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan talks about his granddaughter Navya Naveli Nanda’s initiative to raise awareness about women's health
Prince Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar, Trustee, Maharana Mewar Charitable Foundation on why it is important to 'Leave No One Behind'
Subodh Gupta, Head, Dept of Community Medicine, Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Sewagram on Swasth Bharat, Sampann Bharat telethon
Sewagram medical college was started in 1969 and the main objective of the medical college was to create doctors for rural areas. We at Sewagram have previous partnerships with the community and healthcare community system. In these villages we work closely with gram panchayat, nutrition sanitation community, women self-help group and many other groups. For students, we conduct three camps. First is when they join the medical college. Our students stay for two weeks in the Gandhi ashram and are taught Gandhian ideology. For each batch of medical students, we also adopt a village. These students come from urban areas and many have not seen a village in their life. this gives them an opportunity to learn about rural life and their needs, their cultural practices, etc. These students follow up with these families even after two weeks. They learn how to persuade individuals, families for a healthy lifestyle. Then there is a third camp when students are in their third year. We expose them to the rural healthcare system. they meet ASHA, ANW and learn from them.
Dr Regi George, Managing Trustee, Tribal Health Initiative, speaks on the challenges he and his wife Dr Lalitha Regi faced in their work in the community health sector
Meet Poorna Malavath, who scaled Mt. Everest at age 13 years and 11 months
Prakash Amte, Social Worker, Medical Director of Lok Biradari Prakalp, Padma Shri & Magsaysay Awardee on Swasth Bharat, Sampann Bharat telethon
In 50s, my father Baba Amte, though he was a son of a landlord and used to practice law saw a leprosy patient. He got scared. A turning point can come in anyone's life - he brought that person with leprosy to his home. Leprosy patient in the house was taboo back then. When Baba started this and gained publicity, the most important thing Baba thought about was how to raise confidence among people begging on roads. So he had the policy of work with people. Though handicapped, people could work. In the initial days, everyone boycotted Baba. But after 10 years, a lot of people started coming. Anandvan became a picnic spot. There was a taboo of deformity. Baba's contribution was to eliminate taboo and increase confidence. He didn't limit himself to leprosy but also worked for people with different kinds of disabilities.
The Concept Of One Health Is Becoming More Popular: Atul Chaturvedi, Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry
'One Health' is a concept that has been there for decades. It is now catching up. One health relates to the health of animals, plant, the environment and human. Presently, in COVID-19, one health is in which we need to address a lot of issues with regard to both animals and human beings. We have to ensure early detection. It requires leveraging cooperation of public and private sectors. One health is an issue which is now gaining popularity across the world including in India.
AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria talks about zoonotic diseases and the concept of 'One Health'
According to experts, COVID-19 is a zoonotic disease- that jumps from animals to humans. Here are some of the other zoonotic diseases
Dr Randeep Guleria, Director, AIIMS New Delhi shares insights on COVID-19 and emergence of other viruses
Aradhana Lal, Vice-President, Brand, Communications & Sustainability Initiatives, Lemon Tree Hotels, speaks on how they managed to implement an inclusive hiring policy
We need to think out-of-the-box in order to help our artists: Sanjeev Bhargava, Founder-Director, Seher Festivals
We must see that the artists have really suffered. I am talking on behalf of classical dancers, musicians, painters and other people. The world over, the central and state governments come to the help of artisans. These artists have really suffered because these people live on wage to wage, day to day, performance to performance. I would request to think out of the box and CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) is the way to go. Companies who are not affected by the pandemic largely should come forward. CSR is the key. How you can use CSR for their promotion, propagation. Some companies are doing it but I would urge more to do. When things become normal and artists return to the stage, I would request the government to eradicate income tax, GST from all performing artists.
Leaving No One Behind: Here Are Some Of The Major Health Issues Faced By The Tribal Population In India
Poonam Muttreja, Executive Director, Population Foundation of India talks about women's aspirations on Swasth Bharat, Sampann Bharat Telethon
Deepa Malik, President, Paralympic Committee of India, Padma Shri Awardee, Khel Ratna Awardee on Swasth Bharat, Sampann Bharat Telethon
Challenges are there but my country is fast changing. The fact that I am a part of this panel shows that we are on the cusp of very good change. Talking about change, I have been listening to 'access' to nutrition, health, opportunities, etc., for me, access is challenging. Access will come when you focus on accessibility. I would want to talk about access in the mindset of people- where you accept disability, where a person with a disability doesn't become an outcast. Then also, access to the digital world; are all websites, applications, software accessible? People who have mobility challenges don't mean they can't contribute to the economy.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel talks about health initiatives in areas affected by Left Wing-Extremism
Leaving No One Behind: Laxmi Narayan Tripathi, Transgender rights activist talks about the stigma faced by transgenders
There is acceptance but then the acceptance at times I find tokenistic. The parliament has passed Transgender Act and there is a transgender policy also but the stigma is so high that till today, people begging at streets, signals, or selling their bodies are stigmatized. Even Laxmi is stigmatised. The whole issue of inclusion is a very big question mark. At times I feel that we do not have to be tokenistic but realistic. We have to make entrepreneurs from the community, make them socio-economically stable where they earn themselves with dignity, have access to home. In Delhi, 60 people were employed at Flipkart by kinnar services. Now Flipkart has opened 500 vacancies for trans people. We need to give equal opportunity.
Watch Kalbeliya Folk Dancers from Rajasthan perform during the 12-hour #SwasthBharat, Sampann Bharat Telethon
Susan Ferguson, UN Women Representative for India joins the Swasth Bharat, Sampann Bharat Telethon
I think what we just saw is a really good example of giving women more access to infrastructure. Women often don't have enough opportunities. This is why UN Women concentrates on skilling programmes also to support women who dropped out of school or never able to achieve a diploma in a particular work. We have big skilling work. We also look at women farmers, who may not be registered, how can we help them and get access to government schemes. We also work with national and state governments on improving services to gender based violence. Due to pandemic, a lot of women are experiencing more violence. It is very important to bring women into economic development. India could achieve extra 700 billion dollars economic growth if women were into formal sector like men.