Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Mansukh Mandaviya
New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is finalizing the draft Bill for a fresh national public health law, including setting up a four-tier health administration system, a pubic health cadre with well-defined powers and defining a lockdown, The Indian Express (TIE) reported.
Along with the health ministry, other government departments are involved in the process.
The Bill will be placed before the public for consultation prior to tabling in Union Cabinet. The Bill is expected to be presented in the Parliament in the Monsoon Session, TIE was informed.
The Bill, proposed in 2017, is intended to replace the 125-yer-old Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897. It will also include public health emergencies out of bioterrorism, natural disasters, chemical or nuclear attacks and accidents etc.
The four tiers of health administration will be national, state, district and local level public health authorities.
The national public health authority will be headed by Union Health Ministry, while the health ministers of the states will chair them in the second tier. District collectors are proposed to lead the third tier, and the final one will be reigned by Block Medical Officers or Medical Superintendents. The Bill will create public health cadres at the national and state levels. It defines epidemic measures of isolation, quarantine and lockdowns, TIE reports.
The Union Health Ministry introduced the Public Health (Prevention, Control and Management of Epidemics, Bio-terrorism and Disasters) Act in 2017 and in September 2020, the ministry announced the preparation of public health law.