New Delhi: Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan on Thursday said that by 2022 health will be a positive determinant of development in India.
Harsh Vardhan gave the statement while addressing the 'International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) @ 25 years – Leveraging Partnerships' on the occasion of World Population Day 2019. "Let us work towards not losing any pregnant woman and child to preventable causes," he said.
He also appealed to the NGOs for dedicating one month every year towards the cause of population stabilisation.
Addressing the gathering, Manohar Agnani, joint secretary in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, said that population control depends on the mindset of the people.
"It's only the mindset that could really make a small family. If someone has a girl child, they may again go for a boy child. If a family has two girls, they will go for a boy again," he said.
He added that policy-making cannot be blamed for population explosion. "Policy is fine, but we need to be clear from our mindset," he said.
The incumbent Narendra Modi government has also placed emphasis on the health sector, as it witnessed an increase of almost 19 per cent in the total outlay.
The government's flagship programme, Ayushman Bharat, has seen an increase of 154.87 per cent, which covers the two pillars of Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs) and PMJAY.
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