All that was discussed in the House through the day
The estimated incidence of cancer is increasing in India, Mansukh Mandaviya, Union minister for health and family welfare told the Lok Sabha February 9, 2024. He was citing the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Cancer Registry Programme.
Estimated cancer cases in India was 1,496,972 in 2023, compared to 1,461,427 in 2022, the minister noted.
The estimated incidences of stomach cancer increased to 54,023 in 2023 from 52,706 cases in 2022, said SP Singh Baghel, Union minister of state for health and family welfare, responding to a question in the Lok Sabha.
He also stated that breast cancer is the most common type of cancer globally, with an estimated mortality of 665,255 for 2022. India ranked the highest in the number of estimated breast cancer deaths (98,337) for 2022, Baghel added.
No slowdown has been observed in the sale of electric two wheelers in India after subsidy reduction, Krishan Pal Gurjar, Union minister of state for heavy industries, told the Rajya Sabha. His statement was based on the inputs received from Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways,
The Centre reduced the electric vehicle (EV) subsidy per unit to 15 per cent of the ex-factory price from 40 per cent for electric two-wheelers under FAME India Scheme Phase-II, keeping in mind the increasing penetration of EV market.
This has been implemented after stakeholder’s consultation meetings with original equipment manufacturers of electric two-wheelers on May 16, 2023 and the approval of the Project Implementation and Sanctioning Committee for FAME India Scheme Phase-II.
Gross value added of agriculture and allied sectors has been growing at a rate of 4.4 per cent per annum over the last seven years, Arjun Munda, Union minister for agriculture & farmers welfare, told the Rajya Sabha.
This was driven by the ministry’s budget allocation, which has increased five times to Rs 1,25,035.79 crore during 2023-24 (budgetary estimate) from Rs 27,662.67 crore during 2013-14, he added.
The minister noted that the Government of India is implementing various schemes / programmes for the welfare of farmers by increasing production, remunerative returns and income support to farmers.
Since 2015-16, under the Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY), 1.41 million hectares of agricultural land has been covered under organic farming by developing 46,925 clusters involving 1.62 million farmers, Munda told the Rajya Sabha.
In addition, eight states developed their own brands for organic products, he added.
India reported 103,819 new leprosy cases in 2022-23, Mandaviya told the Lok Sabha. Out of this, grade 2 disability (G2D) cases were 2,363 (2.28 per cent), which equals to 25 per cent of the new (G2D) cases worldwide, Mandaviya told the Lok Sabha.
India has achieved elimination of leprosy as a public health problem, according to the World Health Organization criteria of less than 1 case per 10,000 population at the national level in 2005, the minister noted.
The use of sanitary napkins among menstruating women in India has increased from 42 per cent as reported in the National Family Health Survey-4 (NFHS-4, 2015-16) to 64 per cent as observed in NFHS-5 (2019-21), Bharati Pravin Pawar, Union minister of state for health and family welfare, told the Lok Sabha.
Data related to the number of menstruating women in the rural areas who have continued access to menstrual hygiene products and data on illnesses caused by the lack of menstrual hygiene products are not centrally maintained.
However, NFHS-5 showed that the percentage of women aged 15-24 years using hygienic methods of protection during their menstrual period increased from 57.6 per cent in NFHS-4 (2015-16) to 77.3 per cent.
Given the emergence of variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, with variable transmissibility and their possible health implications, the Union Ministry of Health is following the COVID-19 trajectory globally and in the country, along with various expert committees.
Overall, the trajectory of COVID-19 cases in the country witnessed a slight upsurge last week of November 2023, which peaked around late December 2023 and is currently on the decline, Baghel told the Lok Sabha.
Rare disease patients, who are amenable to treatment, are enrolled with Centres of Excellence (CoE). As per the data maintained by 12 CoEs, there are 2420 patients enrolled as on date, Pawar told the Lok Sabha.
As of January 31, 2024, a total of 15,423,518 people in 17 states were screened for sickle cell disease, Baghel told the Lok Sabha.
To eliminate sickle cell disease by 2047, the Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Madhya Pradesh on July 1, 2023, the minister noted.
The objectives of the mission is to provide affordable, accessible and quality care to all sickle cell disease patients, reduction in the prevalence of the disease through awareness creation, targeted screening of 700 million people till 2025-26 in the age group of 0-40 years in the 278 affected districts of tribal areas and counselling through collaborative efforts of central ministries and state governments, he added.
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