Gandhinagar, July 1 (IANS) Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Wednesday launched the statewide ‘Namo Swachhata Abhiyan and Amrutpaan Abhiyan’, announcing a week-long cleanliness drive across all 11,935 government health institutions in Gujarat as part of an effort to improve hospital hygiene, strengthen infection control and promote maternal and child health.

The campaign, inaugurated at the Gandhinagar Civil Hospital campus, will run from July 1 to July 7.

During the drive, hospitals and health facilities across the state will remove old furniture, outdated medical equipment and unnecessary records, while repair work on damaged infrastructure, including broken tiles, doors, windows, electrical fittings, fans and leaking taps, will also be carried out.

Addressing the gathering, Patel said cleanliness should become a shared resolve and a natural habit of every citizen rather than remain an activity confined to a single week.

Stressing the link between sanitation and public health, he said the messages, “Health is the first happiness and Prevention is better than cure”, should be reflected in everyday life.

“Cleanliness and health are closely connected. Every citizen should avoid littering and take collective responsibility for keeping public places clean,” the Chief Minister said.

Patel said the state government was committed to ensuring quality healthcare reached every section of society and noted that initiatives of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, including the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Har Ghar Jal, Ujjwala Yojana and Ayushman Bharat, had contributed to improving both public health and sanitation.

Explaining the objectives of the campaign, Patel said: “The seven-day exercise would focus on cleaning hospital premises by disposing of obsolete furniture, outdated medical equipment and unnecessary documents. The initiative was intended to become a routine practice rather than a one-time exercise.”

The Chief Minister also launched the Amrutpaan Abhiyan, describing it as an important initiative for maternal and child health.

He said greater public awareness was needed to ensure children received proper nutrition and protection from birth, adding that “a healthy child is the foundation of a healthy society and a developed nation.”

“Good health was more valuable than material comforts and observed that illness often reminded people of the importance of healthcare,” he emphasised.

Referring to the Ayushman Card, he described it as a significant support for economically weaker families and said healthcare infrastructure had expanded considerably in rural Gujarat.

He also emphasised the need to prioritise infection control measures to reduce hospital-acquired infections and urged healthcare workers and citizens to work together to build a cleaner and healthier Gujarat.

On the occasion of National Doctors’ Day, Patel extended his greetings to doctors across the state and acknowledged their contribution to public healthcare.

Health Minister Praful Pansheriya said the Namo Swachhata Abhiyan marked a historic statewide initiative by the Health Department under the Chief Minister’s guidance. “The campaign would continue for seven days before becoming part of hospitals’ routine operations,” he said.

Pansheriya said hospitals would clear broken chairs, unusable computers, old vehicles and scrap ambulances that had remained unused for years, with the reclaimed space being used to improve patient facilities.

“Repair work at Civil Hospitals, Primary Health Centres and Community Health Centres would be undertaken ‘on a war footing’,” he added.

During the programme, Patel and Pansheriya also released the Amrutpaan Abhiyan Guidelines and a Flip Chart prepared for the initiative.

–IANS

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