India Crosses 50,000 NQAS-Certified Health Facilities

India has crossed a major milestone in public healthcare quality assurance, with 50,373 public health facilities across States and Union Territories certified under the National Quality Assurance Standards (NQAS) by 31 December 2025. The achievement reflects the large-scale expansion of quality certification in government health services and the growing emphasis on safe, patient-centred and affordable care.

NQAS and Its Purpose

The National Quality Assurance Standards are a quality framework developed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. It is designed to improve service delivery in public health facilities through standardised assessment, continuous improvement and patient safety measures. The framework supports the broader goal of Universal Health Coverage by strengthening trust in government healthcare.

Growth of Certification

• The NQAS journey began in 2015 with only 10 certified facilities.
• It initially focused on District Hospitals.
• Later, it expanded to Sub-District Hospitals, Community Health Centres, Ayushman Arogya Mandir-Primary Health Centres, Urban Primary Health Centres and Sub Health Centres.
• Certified facilities rose from 6,506 in December 2023 to 22,786 in December 2024.
• The number further increased to 50,373 by December 2025.

Role of Virtual Assessments

Virtual assessments have played a key role in accelerating certification. They have helped expand quality coverage across the public health system more quickly and efficiently. The scale-up also reflects stronger capacity building, digital tools, a larger pool of assessors and continuous quality improvement mechanisms.

Significance for Public Health

The certified facilities include 48,663 Ayushman Arogya Mandirs and 1,710 secondary care facilities such as CHCs, SDHs and DHs. The milestone is important for improving equitable access to quality healthcare, especially for poor, vulnerable and marginalised groups. The government has set an interim target of certifying at least 50% of public healthcare facilities by March 2026.