New Delhi
PM Modi on Sunday said India has turned into world's pharmacy and many foreign nations have expressed confidence in the country's medicines during the Covid-19 crisis.
Modi made the remarks while virtually addressing the 'Jan Aushadhi Diwas'.
The PM said health was considered only as a matter of disease and treatment for a long time, but it also affects the entire economic and social fabric of the country.
He said his government worked on health in a holistic way, not in pieces.
Modi said the demand for 'Made in India' medicines havs been increasing and the government is planning to provide 75 Ayush medicines on 'Janaushadhi' centres so maximum people can benefit soon and the money they spend on costly medicines could be lowered down.
"Corona mahamaari ke baad aaj dunia Bharat ka loha maan rahi hai (the whole world is now taking India seriously after Covid pandemic). India has now turned world's pharmacy. During Covid period, India has earned the confidence of whole world. Now, we are focussing on generic medicines and supporting and encouraging them," Modi said.
The PM dedicated the 7,500th Janaushadhi Kendra at North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health & Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) in Shillong.
He interacted with beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana and also gave awards to stakeholders by recognising their excellent work.
India records 18,711 new Covid cases, 100 deaths
New cases of coronavirus infection in India were recorded above 18,000 for the second consecutive day taking the country’s tally of Covid-19 cases to 1,12,10,799, the Union Health Ministry said on Sunday. The active cases registered an increase for the fifth consecutive day. The Covid-19 active caseload increased to 1,84,523 which now comprises 1.65% of the total infections.
The recovery rate has dropped further to 96.95%, the ministry data stated. A total of 18,711 new infections were registered in a day, while the death toll increased to 1,57,756 with 100 daily new fatalities. On January 29, 18,855 new infections were recorded in 24 hours. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,08,68,520 which translates to a national Covid-19 recovery rate of 96.95%, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.41%.
As per the ICMR, 22,14,30,507 samples have been tested up to March 6 with 7,37,830 samples being tested on Saturday. The 100 new fatalities include 47 from Maharashtra, 16 from Kerala and 12 from Punjab. A total of 1,57,756 deaths have been reported so far.
