The Health minister Dhan Singh Rawat said that the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare providers (NABH) accreditation of all the 13 district and four government medical colleges of the State will be done in this year. The minster was addressing the Kayakalp Samman Samorah organised by the National Health Mission (NHM) to honour the better performing government hospitals in the State at IRDT auditorium on Thursday. Speaking on the occasion, the minister directed the officers to start preparing for NABH accreditation of all the district hospitals and government medical colleges of Dehradun, Srinagar, Haldwani and Almora. He said that the NABH accreditation of all the sub district hospitals will be done in the year 2025. Rawat said that the objective of the exercise is to provide world class facilities to the patients. He said that the Kayakalp awards have also created an environment of healthy competition between the government hospitals of the State. The minister said the government is also striving to make all the villages of the State as Ayushman Grams by ensuring that 100 per cent population gets the Ayushman cards and ABHA IDs. He averred that 2,000 posts in the medical colleges of the state will soon be filled. The minister said that a drive to fill vacant posts of doctors, technicians, nurses and para- medical staff is going on and claimed that soon all these posts will be filled. He said that the retirement age of the specialist doctors will be increased to 65 years. He however added that not all the specialist doctors will be given this benefit as selective approach will be adopted. The minister said that Uttarakhand will meet the target of making all the villages TB free by end of this year.

 The health secretary, R Rajesh Kumar said that the health department need to focus on health, hygiene and sanitation. He exhorted the health professionals to ensure that the health of patients as well as the hospitals is maintained.

 In the ceremony the district hospitals of  Rudrapur and Dehradun were adjudged best hospitals while the Chamoli district hospital in Gopeshwar was awarded for being the best eco- friendly hospital. Sub District Hospital (SDH) Mela, Haridwar was awarded for being the best SDH.  Awards in other categories were also given on the occasion.