To upgrade cleanliness in the major tertiary care hospitals of the country, Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda launched the Clean and Green campaign at AIIMS here on Wednesday.The campaign, launched as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India campaign), will cover the 12 major tertiary care hospitals of India to instil a sense of urgency and seriousness of purpose for cleanliness issues in hospitals.As part of the campaign, the health ministry will award the hospital with the best sanitation and cleanliness maintenance in the next one year."The time has come for paying heed to sanitation and cleanliness in hospitals. Hospitals do not need to worry as the government will fully support financially the hospitals for the implementation of the campaign," Nadda said on the occasion.He said one of the reasons why sanitation and cleanliness were being ignored at major hospitals was the patient load. However, he assured that the campaign would solve all the sanitation and cleanliness issues.
"I am sure that the clean and green campaign will provide the enabling framework wherein both the patients and faculty can best respond and work in most congenial working environment," the minister added.The All India India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) under the campaign would form several new committees on issues like sanitation and staff management.Sanitation staff would be trained in technologies that can help in upgrading sanitation management.Health secretary B.P. Sharma said," The need for such a dedicated campaign was very much necessary. The challenges in creating patient friendly hospitals have been quite formidable.""The rise in patient load, increased workload on doctors and nursing cadres, timely modernisation of machinery and equipment have necessitated significant policy responses," he said.