Union Government has provided required technical support and has supported the states through logistic and financial support to further strengthen the existing health infrastructure (in times of COVID-19).

Some of the ongoing initiatives include:

Government of India, to supplement the hospital facilities has roped in tertiary care hospitals under ESIC, Defence, Railways, paramilitary forces, Steel Ministry etc. Further, many large temporary treatment facilities were established by DRDO to manage surge in COVID-19 cases in the country.

Due to concerted actions of Central and State Governments, the isolation bed capacity and ICU bed capacity which was only 10,180 and 2,168 before the first lockdown (as on 23rd March 2020) is being enhanced continuously and is currently at 18,21,845 isolation beds and 1,22,035 ICU beds (as on 23rd July 2021).

The daily liquid medical oxygen (LMO) production, which was about 5700 MTs per day in August 2020 increased to a high of 9690 MTs as on 13th May 2021. This was done by enhancement of LMO production in steel plants as well as in other LMO plants.

A system for real-time monitoring of oxygen production in steel plants and distribution of oxygen to States/UTs was also put in place.

Restrictions were imposed on industrial use of oxygen.

A dynamic and transparent framework for allocation of medical oxygen in consultation with States/UTs and all the stakeholders such as relevant Ministries, manufacturers/suppliers of liquid oxygen etc. has been prepared.

Online digital solutions viz. Oxygen Demand Aggregation system (ODAS) and Oxygen Digital Tracking System (ODTS) have been developed to ascertain the demand for medical oxygen from all medical facilities and to track their transportation.

To avoid wastage of medical oxygen, guidelines on rational use of oxygen were issued on 25th September 2020, and further revised and disseminated to States on 25th April 2021. 1,02,400 oxygen cylinders were procured in April and May of 2020 and distributed to States. Further orders for additional 1,27,000 cylinders have been placed on 21st April 2021, (54,000 jumbo cylinders (D type) and 73,000 regular cylinders (B type). Deliveries of the same have started and 24,207 (24,511 B-type and 8,893 D-type) cylinders have been delivered as on 7th July 2021. In addition, around 4962 B-type and 1895 D-type cylinders are in-transit.

To generate oxygen at the health facility level, PSA plants are being established in hospitals, especially in far flung areas enabling the hospitals to become self-sufficient in generation of oxygen for their needs and thereby, reduce the burden on the medical oxygen supply grid across the country.

Further, to fast-track the availability of Medical Oxygen in rural and peri-urban areas, more than 18,000 Oxygen Concentrators have been allocated to various States.

Remdesivir is a patented drug, manufactured in India under voluntary licenses granted by Gilead Life Sciences USA (the patent holder) to 7 Indian pharmaceutical companies. Manufacturing capacity was augmented from 38 lakh vials per month to nearly 122 lakh vials per month. In addition, 40 additional manufacturing sites were approved by the CDSCO, thus increasing the manufacturing sites from 22 to 62.

All States/UT and State Drugs Controllers have been requested to verify stock of the drug and check other malpractices and take effective steps to curb hoarding and black marketing of Remdesivir.

Ministry of Health & Family Welfare also continues to provide technical guidance for managing various aspects of COVID-19. So far more than 150 guidelines/advisories/SoPs/plans have been provided to States/UTs.

During the F.Y. 2019-20 funds to the tune of Rs.1113.21 crore was released to the States/UTs under NHM towards management and containment of COVID-19 pandemic. Details are given at Annexure I.

During the FY 2020-21, funds to the tune of Rs.8257.88 crore has been released to the States/UTs towards the India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package, through Agency - National Health Mission (NHM). Details are given at Annexure II.

In addition, ‘India COVID-19 Emergency Response & Health System Preparedness Package: Phase-II’ has also been approved by the Cabinet with Rs 23,123 crores (with Rs. 15,000 Cr as Central Component & Rs 8,123 as State component) and is to be implemented from 1st July 2021 to 31" March 2022.

It includes support to State/UT level for ramping up Health Infrastructure including those in rural, tribal and peri-urban areas closer to the community, providing support for procurement of drugs and diagnostics to enhance service delivery at district and sub district levels for management of COVID-19 cases (including pediatric care) and for maintaining a buffer of drugs, support for IT Interventions such as implementation of Hospital Management Information System and expanding access to tele-consultations in all districts, and support for capacity building and training for all aspects of management of COVID-19.

Annexure I

Central Release of Grants in aid for management and containment COVID-19





Note:

For the FY 2020-21, the UT of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu have been combined.

Annexure II

Central Release of Grants in aid under the India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package during the FY 2020-21






The Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar stated this in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha here today.