“The healthcare initiatives of the Government of India will have a positive impact on 50 crore Indians. It is essential to ensure that we free the poor of India from the clutches of poverty due to which they cannot afford healthcare.”
- PM Narendra Modi
Every Indian deserves affordable and accessible, high quality healthcare. Considering healthcare as one of the key factors in building an inclusive society, PM Narendra Modi’s government has taken many steps for a Healthy India.
Health of Mothers and Children
Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan provides assured, comprehensive and quality antenatal care, free of cost, to all pregnant women on 9th of every month. For ensuring good health of mother and child, more than 1.3 crore antenatal check-ups conducted at over 13,078 health facilities. Further, more than 80.63 lakh pregnant women have been immunized. During screening, more than 6.5 lakh high risk pregnancies were identified.
Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana facilitates montary incentive to the pregnant and lactating mother, which enables her to take adequate rest before and after delivery of the firstchild. More than 50 lakh pregnant women are expected to benefit every year with cash incentive of Rs 6,000.
Childhood years are foundational in deciding health of an individual. MissionIndradhanush aims to cover all those children by 2020 who are either unvaccinated, or are partially vaccinated against seven vaccine preventable diseases which include diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, tuberculosis, measles and hepatitis B.
Mission Indradhanush completed four phases covering 528 districts wherein 81.78 lakh pregnant women immunized and 3.19 crore children vaccinated. Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV), which is more effective than oral vaccine, was introduced in Nov 2015.Around 4 crore doses have been administered to children. Rotavirus Vaccine was launched in March 2016 and nearly 1.5 crore doses have been administered to children. Measles Rubella (MR) vaccination campaign launched in Feb 2017 has covered around 8 crore children. Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) was launched in May 2017 under which around 15 lakh doses have been administered to children.
Preventive Healthcare
Lifestyle diseases are emerging as a significant health challenge in a rapidly changing world.Under the active leadership of the PM Narendra Modi, Yoga has become a Jan Andolanleading to multiple health benefits for the masses across the world. Since 2015, every year June 21 has been observed as International Yoga Day and has been seeing wide interest and participation across the globe.
In a concerted effort to eradicate malnutrition, POSHAN Abhiyan was launched by PM Narendra Modi’s government. It is first of its kind initiative launched to tackle malnutrition through multimodal interventions. It seeks to reduce malnutrition through convergence, use of technology & a targeted approach.
Affordable and quality healthcare
Ensuring affordable and quality healthcare, 1084 essential medicines, including lifesaving drugs, were brought under price control regime after May 2014, giving the consumer total benefit of nearly Rs. 10,000 crores.
As for Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Janaushadhi Kendras, more than 3,000 outlets are functional across India, resulting in savings of over 50% in consumer expenditure on healthcare. AMRIT (Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment) pharmacies provide drugs for cancer and cardiovascular diseases along with cardiac implants at a 60 to 90 per cent discount on prevailing market rates.
Due to PM Narendra Modi’s government, prices of cardiac stents and knee implants have reduced by 50-70%. It gives a huge financial relief to patients.
Pradhan Mantri National Dialysis Programme launched in 2016 offers free dialysis services for poor and subsidized services to all patients under National Health Mission. Under this programme,nearly 2.5 lakh patients have availed the service and nearly 25 lakh dialysis session held so far. There are 497 dialysis operational units/centres and 3330 total operational dialysis machines.
Ayushman Bharat
Higher out of pocket expenditure on health carepushes millions of Indians into the poverty trap. There is a large capacity within the public and private sectors for delivery of health services. Ayushman Bharat is envisaged to provide comprehensive, affordable and quality healthcare leveraging on strengths of public and private health sector.It will be world’s largest health insurance initiative which seeks to provide comprehensive health coverage up to Rs. 5 lakh per family per year to around 50 crore people. It is proposed that 1.5 lakh Sub Centres and Primary Health Care centres to be transformed as Health & Wellness Centre (HWCs) across India to provide Comprehensive Primary Healthcare Services.
A huge boost is being given to health infrastructure across the country:
• 20 New Super Speciality AIIMS–like hospitals are being set up
• Total 92 Medical Collegeshave been set up in last four years, which resulted in an increase of 15,354 MBBS seats
• 73 Government Medical Colleges are being upgraded
• Since July 2014, 1675 hospital beds were added in the six functional AIIMS
• 2 new AIIMS announced for Jharkhand and Gujarat in 2017-18.
• Total 12,646 PG Seats (Broad & Super Specialty Course) have been added in last four years.
Policies and laws
National Health Policy was formulated in 2017, after a gap of 15 years. It addresses current & emerging challenges based on changing socio-economic & epidemiological landscapes.
Mental health, previously a much-ignored area, has also assumed importance under the NDA government led by PM Narendra Modi. Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 adopts a rights-based statutory framework for mental health in India and strengthens equality and equity in provision of mental healthcare services to protect the rights of people with mental health problems.
Disease Elimination
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease. India accounts for one-fourth of the global incidence of TB cases. The Sustainable Development Goals have set the target of ending the TB epidemicby 2030. Intensifying the efforts to eliminate TB in India ahead of global targets, treatment for drug sensitive TB is being provided through 4 lakh DOT centres under the government of PM Narendra Modi. The government has also taken up house to house screening of TB symptoms covering 5.5 crore population under Active Case Finding.As TB affects the nutrition and income of the patient because of the restrained mobility, DBT of Rs. 500 monthly nutritional support has been provided for the duration of the treatment.
Action plans to eliminate Leprosy by 2018, Measles by 2020 and TB by 2025 are beingimplemented. India has validated elimination of maternal & neo-natal tetanus in May 2015, before the global target of December 2015.
