JAIN TO PITCH FOR MOHALLA CLINIC, OTHER PROJECTS AT INT’L MEET

NEW DELHI: Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain will attend an international conference in Bangkok next month where he will pitch for AAP government’s healthcare measures including the mohalla clinic initiative, seeking to persuade the participating countries to adopt them.

Jain will leave for Thailand tomorrow and attend the Prince Mahidol Conference on February 2 being organised by Prince Mahidol Foundation, the Royal Thai government and other global organisations.

Noted Economist Amartya Sen, former Prime Minister of Norway and former DG of WHO, Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, will also attend the conference.

“During conference, I will put forth reforms such as mohalla clinics by the Delhi government. Also, I will appeal to global leaders to adopt similar reforms in their countries so as to provide quality healthcare facilities to people,” Jain said.

The minister will come back on February 4. The Kejriwal government has plans to set up 1,000 mohalla clinics and around 122 poly-clinics with an aim to provide free primary healthcare to city residents closer to their home.

The Prince Mahidol Award Conference is an annual event focusing on public health policy issues which are of global significance. Last week, former secretary-general of United Nations Kofi Annan — who currently heads ‘The Elders’, an organisation of independent global leaders founded by Nelson Mandela — had commended the AAP government’s flagship mohalla clinic project.

In a letter to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on January 25, Annan had said, “We understand that this initiative is proving very successful and we commend you on this impressive achievement.”

Currently, there are 106 such clinics in Delhi and according to a report published in The Lancet journal, close to 1.5 million (15 lakh) patients have visited them in the past year.