PM Modi praises Sudha Murty's maiden speech on women's health in RS

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday praised new Rajya Sabha MP Sudha Murty for raising the women’s health during her maiden speech at the House.

Murthy, joining the discussion on the motion of thanks to the President’s address of Rajya Sabha, quoted her father that when a mother dies it is counted as one death in the hospital but to the family it is a loss forever.

Responding to the author’s speech, PM Modi said: "I want to thank Sudha Murty for speaking in detail about women's health," adding that women's health and sanitation has been a "priority sector" of his government over the last 10 years.

"Our country's women have benefited from the toilets we have made," PM Modi said, adding they have been provided sanitary pads and initiated vaccination during pregnancy.

In her maiden speech, Sudha Murty pressed the government to roll out a vaccination programme to combat cervical cancer.

"There is a vaccination which is given to girls, between the age of nine to 14, known as a cervical vaccination. If the girls take that, it (cancer) can be avoided ... we should promote vaccination for the benefit of our girls because prevention is better than cure," she was quoted as saying in Rajya Sabha.

To the government that carried out ‘ big vaccination drive during Covid’, cervical vaccination to girls in the age group of 9-14 years may not be difficult to implement, she pointed out.

Murty said the cervical vaccination, developed in the West, has been used for the last 20 years, adding that "It worked very well. It is not expensive’.

‘Today it is ₹ 1,400 for people like me who are in the field. If the government intervenes and negotiates...you can bring it to ₹ 700-800. We have such a large population. It will be beneficial for our girls in the future,’ she was quoted as saying.

President Droupadi Murmu nominated Murty to the upper house on the eve of International Women's Day.