Article:
India’s Prime Minister has recently launched one of the country’s largest healthcare schemes called the Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission. The scheme is designed to fortify healthcare infrastructure across the nation and provide assistance to the urban and rural health and wellness centres.
The Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission
This pan-India mission is an addition to the National Health Mission and aims to bolster 17,788 rural Health and Wellness Centres in ten ‘high focus’ states along with setting up 11,024 urban Health and Wellness Centres all over India. The mission plans to establish a nationwide presence of critical care services, offering exclusive critical care hospital blocks in every district that has a population exceeding five lakh. Other districts will avail these facilities via referral services.
The Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission is poised to boost public health infrastructure by setting up several new institutes. These include a national institution for one health, four novel national institutes for virology, nine biosafety level-III laboratories, and five new regional national centres for disease control.
Objectives of the Mission
The prime objective of the mission is to create a robust public health infrastructure in rural and urban areas alike. This infrastructure will be capable of responding to public health emergencies and curbing disease outbreaks efficiently. Furthermore, the mission seeks to establish an IT-enabled disease surveillance system via a network of surveillance laboratories at the block, district, regional, and national levels.
To streamline and organize health data, all the public health labs will be connected through the Integrated Health Information Portal, which will expand to all Indian states and Union Territories.
Significance of the Healthcare Mission
There has been a long-standing need for a comprehensive healthcare system in India. A study titled ‘State of Democracy in South Asia (SDSA)–Round 3’ conducted by Lokniti-CSDS in 2019 highlighted the gap in public healthcare access, especially for marginalised communities. The study noted that only 70% of locations had public healthcare services, with a lower availability of 65% in rural regions, compared to 87% in urban areas.
Schemes such as Swachh Bharat Mission, Jal Jeevan Mission, Ujjwala, Poshan Abhiyan, and Mission Indradhanush have already been successful in preventing many diseases and saving lives. Over 2 crore underprivileged individuals have benefited from free treatment under Ayushman Bharat Yojana alone, while many health-related problems are being addressed through the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission.
Other Related Initiatives
In addition to the Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission, there are several other health initiatives designed to improve public health in India. These include the PM Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Scheme, the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana, and the Jan Aushadhi Yojana. Each of these schemes has its own unique focus and function, but all contribute towards creating a healthier, more robust India.
