NITI Aayog's Health Index: CM Pinarayi Vijayan stresses role of 'selfless service' of health workers

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday said the dedicated service of health workers and the government's policy that focuses on strengthening the public health system have helped the state emerge as the best performing large state in the NITI Aayog's Health Index for the fourth consecutive time.

''Kerala has emerged again as the best performing large state in @NITIAayog's #HealthIndex. The core reasons of this achievement are the policy that focuses on strengthening the public health system & the dedication of our health workers to ensure its success,'' he tweeted.

The southern state emerged top in the performance of the year 2019-20 by battling the adverse factors like floods and that increases the value of the achievement, he said.

In a Facebook post, Vijayan said the Left Front's policy of strengthening the public health sector has been resolutely implemented even during the times of crisis. ''The selfless service of the health workers has enabled Kerala to fulfil this great responsibility in the best possible way,'' he said, adding that the following outbreak of COVID-19 also could be contained in an exemplary manner due to this cohesive approach.

The Chief Minister also stressed the need for more vigilant intervention in the health sector in the wake of the Omicron variant of the pandemic.

Kerala has again emerged as the top ranking state in terms of overall health performance among larger states, while Uttar Pradesh is the worst, according to the fourth Health Index launched by Niti Aayog.

The period 2019-20 (reference year) was taken into account in the fourth Health Index by the agency.

The report pointed out that for the fourth consecutive round Kerala emerged as the best performer in terms of overall performance.

According to the report, Kerala and Tamil Nadu were top two performers in terms of overall performance with the highest reference year (2019-20) index scores but ranked twelfth and eighth respectively in terms of incremental performance.