SHRI
VENKAIAH NAIDU CALLS FOR A COLLECTIVE APPROACH TO TACKLE HYGIENE
PROBLEM
The Rural Development Minister Shri
M. Venkaiah Naidu has called for a collective approach to help
solve the health and hygiene problem in the country. He said,
the approach should involve different operative segments of the
society - drawing the best from the infrastructural capabilities
of the government, the knowledge and expertise of the aid agencies
and NGOs and the efficiency and marketing expertise of the private
sector. This, he said, should form the basis for a unique responsibility-oriented
public- private partnership. Shri Naidu was speaking after inaugurating
an international conference on Home Hygiene and the Prevention
of Infectious Disease in the Developing Countries here today.
Talking about the enormity of the problem, the Minister said that
over 6,00,000 people die of diarrhoeal disease in the country
every year. He said, although 98% of all rural habitations have
been covered under the Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme,
the challenge is now of providing "safe" drinking water. The Minister
said, water needs to be safe from harmful excess chemicals like
arsenic and fluride, in addition to the microbiological contamination.
Shri Naidu said, to widen the coverage under sanitation, the Total
Sanitation Campaign is proposed to be extended to 250 districts
this year. He said we need to mobilise more resources and coordinate
the efforts across different funding agencies. Emphasising the
importance of hygiene awareness, he said, basic hygiene education
for mother and father can have a big impact. Shri Naidu said,
the Rural Development Ministry is considering to initiate a project
'hand wash-with-soap' programme. It will be first taken up in
Kerala and then extended to other parts of the country. The project
is to be called 'Health-in-Your-Hands'. Addressing the gathering
the Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dr. C.P. Thakur said,
the health administration should work with rural and urban authorities
to bring about behaviour changes with regard to hygiene. He said
primary health care authorities have a critical role in this area.
Dr. Thakur regretted that people have given up the traditional
methods of hygiene while half-heartedly adopting the western hygiene
methods. He said lack of water or the depletion of water levels
has aggravated the hygiene problem.
