There is continuous expansion of immunization activities in the country. Hepatitis-B vaccine has been included in the Universal Immunization Programme recently. Japanese Encephalitis vaccination is being undertaken in 175 identified districts, with 62 new districts being added to the existing 113 in 19 states. Pentavalent Vaccine containing DPT, Hepatitis-B and Hib vaccines was started in two states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu from December 2011. This was stated by Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad, union minister of health and family welfare at Chandigarh on July 08, 2013.

Addressing the Golden Jubilee Celebrations & Foundation Day of Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, Shri Azad said PGIMER owes its inception to the vision of late Sardar Partap Singh Kairon, the then Chief Minister of Punjab and the distinguished medical educationists supported by the first Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru who considered the institutions of scientific knowledge as temples of learning and places of pilgrimage. Over the years, PGIMER has fulfilled its mandate and gained reputation for providing the highest standards of clinical care.

"In-principle approval has been given to PGIMER to develop a 300-bed satellite centre at Sangrur which could be expanded to a 500 bed facility depending upon the case load. A 100-bed satellite centre will also be set up at Ferozepur to provide quality tertiary care to the people living in remote areas," mentioned the health minister.

Azad said the last 4 years have been a new era of reforms in the history of medical education of India. The availability of MBBS seats has gone up from 33,567 to 45,629 and the number of PG seats increased from 13,838 to 22,850. 72 new medical colleges including six new AIIMS at Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Jodhpur, Patna, Raipur and Rishikesh have been established raising the number from 290 to 362.

"To overcome the shortage of Nurses and ANMs, Government of India has sanctioned 269 nursing schools in the last two years, mostly in remote, inaccessible and under-served districts. With an estimated outlay of Rs. 2,030 crores, these institutions will give nearly 20,000 additional nurses annually. To give a boost to para-medical education and scale up the availability of para-medics, a National Institute of Paramedical Sciences (NIPS) at Delhi and 8 Regional Institutes are being established. A total of 10,760 paramedic professionals are expected to be trained annually when these institutes of excellence are fully functional," mentioned the union health minister.