Over the next few months, the flu caused more panic than infections, even as the Centre swung into action, set- ting up screening centres at airports and gave its nod to public and private testing and treatment centres.

But most people thought the health ministry did not move fast enough on H1N1 and other issues that matter, which led to it being voted the worst performing ministry, bagging 15.3 per cent of the total votes. It was voted sixth of nine best-performing ministries.

As many as 36.3 per cent people polled thought the ministry was "unimaginative and slow" in tackling H1N1, 19.7 per cent thought it was incon- sistent in its response, while another 22.3 per cent said a bolder approach had been needed.

Only 21.7 per cent people polled -- roughly one in five -- thought its efforts had been effective and speedy.

If the Union health ministry failed its first big public heath challenge in public perception, it fared as badly on the roll-out of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), the UPA's flagship programme to revitalise pri- mary and secondary healthcare in rural India.

More than one in three people -- 37.6 per cent -- said that it had failed to improve the crumbling health infra- structure.

As many as 12.1 per cent wanted set- ting up of "AIIMS-like" hospitals speed- ed up, on which work finally started after Azad took over in 2009-10, which had been the deadline for the comple- tion of the work. While 26.3 said peo- ple said Azad appears firmly incharge and another 21.8 per cent said he is in the loop on issues, the majority -- 30.1 per cent -- though he needed to be more imaginative.

Source: Hindustan Times Health Ministry - Not In The Best Of Health After All