India won a UN award for its “India Hypertension Control Initiative (IHCI)” on Wednesday, a significant accomplishment and recognition of the nation’s efforts to combat hypertension.
In Delhi, India won a UN award for its “India Hypertension Control Initiative (IHCI)” on Wednesday, which was a significant accomplishment and recognition of the nation’s efforts to combat hypertension.
IHCI, a joint project of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), state governments, the World Health Organization-India, and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, was recognised with the “2022 UN Interagency Task Force and WHO Special Programme on Primary Health Care Award” at a UN General Assembly side event on September 21 in New York.
According to a statement from the Health Ministry, the IHCI is a significant hypertension intervention funded by the National Health Mission that has been commended for its outstanding performance within India’s primary healthcare system.
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted in praise of the healthcare initiative: “IHCI has strengthened PM @NarendraModi Ji’s mission to ensure health & wellness for all.” He added that we are dedicated to creating a fit and healthy India.
The honour recognises India’s exceptional dedication to preventing and controlling Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and (ii) providing integrated, patient-centered primary care. A company with a multisectoral approach to NCD prevention and control and multisectoral action that has produced results in primary care for NCD prevention and control and related Sustainable Development Goals has been identified by the UN Task Force (SDGs).
The National Health Initiatives’ hypertension control interventions have successfully leveraged and strengthened the current healthcare delivery system, and they strengthen the connections between population-based screening programmes and medical care. The programme was started in 2017 and gradually expanded to include more than 130 districts in 23 states.
More than 34 lakh individuals with hypertension receive treatment through the initiative at government health facilities, including Ayushman Bharat Health Wellness Centers (HWCs). A straightforward drug-dose-specific standard treatment protocol, ensuring an adequate supply of protocol medications, decentralizing care with follow-up and medication refills at Health Wellness Centers, task sharing involving all health staff, and a powerful real-time information system that can track every patient for follow-up and blood pressure control are some of the strategies.
