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The MoU covers the following areas of cooperation:

• Exchange and training of medical doctors and other health professionals
• Assistance in development of human resources and setting up of health care facilities
• Exchange of information regarding regulation of pharmaceutical, medical devices and cosmetics
• Sharing expertise for vulnerability assessment for health of citizens against climate risk and public health actions targeted towards mitigation and adaptation
• Sharing of expertise for facilitating climate resilient infrastructure as well as providing support for development of ‘Green Healthcare’ (climate resilient hospitals).
• Promote mutual research in various relevant areas.
• Any other area of cooperation as may be mutually decided upon.
• Each Party shall encourage the participation of the representatives of their countries in round tables, seminars, symposia, workshops and conferences on issues of cooperation, organized by the other Party’s relevant bodies.

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There is a common misconception that smokers would not get coverage under health insurance. Contrary to this misconception, many health insurance companies offer policies for smokers. But smokers may have to pay a higher premium to get policy coverage. Premiums are higher because smokers are more likely to develop lifestyle diseases than non-smokers.

Insurance companies classify a person who uses tobacco in any way as a ‘smoker’. Insurance companies conduct a medical examination to determine the extent of tobacco use and, based on this, determine the premium for coverage. Parts of tobacco can be found in blood, saliva, urine or hair. The duration of exposure to tobacco in the body depends on how long a person smokes, age and general health.

When filling out an application for a health insurance policy, you will need to answer questions such as “Do you smoke?”, “Have you smoked for six months?” If the answer is yes, the number of cigarettes smoked and the details of any health problems caused by smoking should be disclosed. You must also undergo a medical examination as requested by the insurance company.

Premium is determined by factors such as age and coverage amount. Disclosures by future smokers can be avoided by disclosing it and undergoing a medical examination. If the number of cigarettes smoked after taking out the policy increases or the health condition worsens due to smoking, the insurance company should be informed.

The insurance company decides whether to grant the policy based on the health condition. If lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure are present, the premium may go up. The policy may be denied if the smoker has Type 2 diabetes.

If there are currently no other diseases, those who smoke only a few cigarettes a day will have no difficulty in getting the policy. At the same time, it will not be easy to get a policy for someone who smokes more than 20 cigarettes a day.

The same plan goes for smokers and non-smokers; only that there will be a difference in the premium. Those who smoke more than 10 cigarettes a day are likely to have higher premiums. If you quit smoking in the future, you can get a discount on the premium. This consideration is given only after at least two years of stopping to smoke. At the same time, some insurance companies do not charge extra premiums for those who have no health problems and only smoke moderately.

Smokers should not avoid a health insurance because the premium is high. Coverage should definitely be ensured as smokers are at higher risk of developing lifestyle diseases.

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Expressing his gratitude to the Delhi Police for this initiative he said, “It is very sad that a dozen Delhi police personnel died due to Corona. In spite of these casualties, they are doing a great job deploying personnel to contain the spread, while the number of containment zones has jumped from 200 to 600.”

दान अर्थात देने का भाव, अर्पण करने की निष्काम भावना।#AIIMS, Delhi में #plasmadonation Campaign में #PlasmaWarriors @DelhiPolice के जवानों ने #plasma donate कर साबित कर दिया कि दिल्ली पुलिस सचमुच 'दिल की पुलिस' है। इस Campaign का शुभारंभ आज मैंने किया।@HMOIndia
@AmitShah pic.twitter.com/6JBar6xwYL

— Dr Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) July 19, 2020

The Minister saluted the contribution of these volunteers by conferring certificates to 26 Police constables. Of these, Shri Om Prakash was donating his plasma for the third time today.  The Union Minister stated that these donations will have a long-lasting impact on other countrymen who will get inspired to donate their plasma. Every single donor counts in our journey towards victory over COVID-19 and we need more and more of these plasma warriors to help fight the pandemic till a definitive treatment or vaccine is developed, he added.

He acknowledged the huge potential of this strategy and the government’s will to tap into it. He commented, “As of now convalescent plasma therapy has been approved for compassionate use with various plasma banks being set up to ensure round the clock availability. Despite the fact that India has one of the highest cure rates amongst COVID-19 patients, the plasma donations has yet to pick up. I am happy that AIIMS, New Delhi is organising this plasma donation campaign with the support of Delhi Police Corona Warriors.”

Plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients contains protective antibodies to the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus. It can provide immunity to patients of Covid-19 when transfused.  Considering its potential benefit, plasma therapy is provided to those patients who are not responding to conventional treatment. Anyone who has recovered from COVID-19, and has completed 28 days after the completion of treatment or home isolation, is between 18 to 60 years of age with a weight of more than 50 kg is eligible to donate their blood plasma.
The Blood Bank will assess their eligibility for blood donation and check the level of COVID-19 protective antibody levels in their blood before they can donate. The blood of a survivor usually has a high concentration of such antibodies and when given to a susceptible person, these antibodies circulate in blood, reach tissues and neutralize the virus. The process of donation is completed in one to three hours and plasma can be collected on same day.

More than 23,600 people cured in India

Proactive measures of Central and State/UT governments of aggressive testing and timely diagnosis has helped in detecting cases early. Effective clinical management of the moderate and severe cases through a well-executed Standard of Care protocol has ensured high rate of recovery among the COVID patients.

The last 24 hours saw a sharp increase of 23,672 COVID patients recovering. The gap between recovered patients and active COVID-19 cases has further increased to 3,04,043. The total number of recovered cases is 6,77,422. The recovery rate as of now is at 62.86%.

Medical attention is being provided to all the 3,73,379 active cases, in hospitals and home isolation.

The country’s testing infrastructure has been substantially ramped up. The testing strategy prescribed by ICMR allows all registered medical practitioners to recommend testing. The Rapid Antigen Point of Care (POC) Test coupled with the facilitation of widespread gold-standard RT-PCR based testing by States/UTs has resulted in a surge in the number of samples tested. 3,58,127 samples have been tested in the last 24 hours. With total of 1,37,91,869 samples tested the testing per million (TPM) for India has reached 9994.1.

Consistently expanding diagnostic lab network comprises of 1262 labs, including 889 labs in the government sector and 373 private labs.

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Speaking at the Facebook LIVE programme organised by Regional Outreach Bureau, under Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Dr. Fettel said the only way to avoid community spread is to comply the simple rules of ‘Break the Chain’ which include proper wearing of masks, hand washing and social distancing. He said if need arises for testing of COVID-19, contact the DISHA Call centre of Health department (O471 2552056 & 1056- Toll free) and proceed accordingly. Dr. Fettel said eating good food, which contains more vegetables and fruits and avoiding over stressing of the body will raise the immunity level. Yoga, meditation, prayer, most liked hobbies etc can be followed as per one’s choice to avoid mental stress.

State Nodal Officer pointed out that it is those who disobey the COVID protocols and violate quarantine rules, turns out to be super spreaders of the pandemic. He pointed out that if the cases increase rapidly in a very short time, the state will not be able to bear the load in spite of very extensive planning and preparedness. Strict compliance of regulations prescribed by the authorities should be complied without any fault.

In the one-hour long face book live programme, Dr. Amar Fettel answered queries from netizens related to basic steps to keep away the virus, proper wearing of masks, home quarantine, reverse quarantine, disinfecting of things purchased from shops, etc. Mrs. K.A. Beena, Deputy Director, Regional Outreach Bureau moderated the programme.

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Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said the needy will now have easy access to blood and can get themselves registered on this app. Through ‘eBloodServices’ app,the availability of blood will be visible right in our phone. He added that once an order is placed, Indian Red Cross Society’s blood banks will keep the request active for 12 hrs. He said people can demand up to four units of blood. The app is developed by the ERaktkosh team and will bring ‘transparency’ in the blood donation programme.

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With the highest single day spike of 15,968 cases and 465 deaths in the last 24 hours,India’s COVID-19 count reached 4,56,183 on Wednesday.According to the latest update by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW),14,476 deaths have been recorded due to the infection so far in the country. As the number of active cases stood at 1,83,022 ,there has been an improvement in the recovery rate.There are 2,56,685 cured patients and India’s recovery rate is now 56.70%.The health ministry said on Tuesday that India has one of the lowest deaths per-lakh population in the world a citing report by the World Health Organisation(WHO).

Most of India’s Covid-19 cases came from Maharashtra,Delhi,Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, which have seen a steady rise in the number of infections and deaths.Maharashtra has recorded 1,39,010 Covid-19 cases and 6,531 deaths.Delhi ,the second worst-affected,with 66,602 infections with more than 40% of these recorded in the last 10 days and 2,301 fatalities. On June 23, Maharashtra had reported its highest single-day jump in fatalities with 248 deaths, even as Mumbai, the worst-hit Indian city, recorded 824 new cases.

In Tamil Nadu, which has enforced a lockdown in its worst-hit districts, 64,603 infections have been witnessed and 833 people have succumbed in the southern state.Gujarat also has seen a rise in the number of Covid-19 cases and has recorded 28,371 patients and 1,710 deaths so far.

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The Supreme Court has asked the Centre to identify private hospitals where COVID-19 infected patients could avail free treatment or at a nominal cost.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde, hearing the matter via video-conferencing, observed that there were private hospitals that have been given land either free of cost or at nominal rates and they should treat coronavirus infected patients for free.

“You identify all those hospital and find out,” the bench, also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and Hrishikesh Roy, told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.

“They have been given land either free of cost or at a very nominal rates. These charitable hospitals should treat patients for free,” the bench observed and posted the matter for hearing after one week.

Mr. Mehta, appearing for the Centre, told the top court that this being a policy issue was required to be decided by the government.

Mr. Mehta said he would file a response on the issue.

The bench was hearing an application filed in a plea which has sought a direction for regulating the cost of treatment of COVID-19 at private hospitals across the country.

The top court had on April 30 issued notice to the Centre and sought its response on the plea, filed by advocate Sachin Jain, which alleged that private hospitals are “commercially exploiting” patients suffering from coronavirus in this hour of crisis.

The petition has said that the government should mandate private hospitals on public land allotted at concessional rates or running under the category of charitable institutions to at least for the present, treat COVID-19 patients either for public good or on no-profit basis.

The petition has also sought a direction to the Centre to bear the cost of COVID-19 treatment at private hospitals for the poor and vulnerable, who neither have any insurance cover nor have coverage under government schemes like Ayushman Bharat, and also of those who have the coverage but the cost of treatment surpasses their reimbursement.

It has said that given the resource constrains of public health sector in the country, extensive participation of private healthcare sector would be required particularly in dealing with moderate and severe cases of coronavirus that would require hospitalisation.

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