Bangalore: Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss today said the National Urban Health Mission covering over 400 cities will be launched by next month.

The mission will cover cities with a population of more than 1,00,000 and will be implemented by various cadres of health workers and personnel including urban social health activists (USHA), he said at a function organised to mark the upgradation of the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute here.

“We hope to launch the programme by end of the month or next month”, he said.

Also on the cards was the National School Health Programme whereby school students would be screened for ENT problems, skin diseases, diabetes, cardiac health problems among others, he said, adding the programme will be implemented in all private and public schools.

Health will be made a mandatory subject in school curriculum and will cover topics relating to nutrition, hygiene, environment, sanitation and HIV, he said.

Yoga will also be made mandatory in all schools, he said while lauding Karnataka for taking steps in this direction.

Stressing the need for augmenting the number of health workers, he said currently the country has 7,00,000 doctors but as many as 8,00,000 more are needed. As for nurses, there are one million at present although another 1.5 million more are still required, he said.