New Delhi: The Union Health Ministry in a recent communication with the State government of all these three States appealed to them to implement the scheme. “Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has recently communicated with the State governments of Delhi, Odisha and West Bengal and appealed to them to implement the scheme,” said Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar while speaking to ETV Bharat on Friday.
Pawar said that her ministry keeps reminding these State governments to implement the scheme from time to time. “Sidelining all issues and differences, the State government should implement the scheme for the benefit of their citizens,” Pawar said. Ayushman Bharat Yojana is a scheme that aims at helping the economically weaker sections of society, who needs healthcare facilities. The scheme was rolled out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 23, 2018.
It’s a flagship scheme of the Government of India aiming at achieving the vision of Universal Health Coverage (UHC). This initiative has been designed to meet Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This scheme aims to undertake path-breaking interventions to holistically address the healthcare system (covering prevention, promotion and ambulatory care) at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels.
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Ayushman Bharat aims at providing a health cover of Rs 5 lakhs per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation to over 12 crore poor and vulnerable families (approximately 55 crore beneficiaries) that form the bottom 40 per cent of the Indian population.
Meanwhile, Pawar said that under the Ayushman Bhav campaign that was launched on September 17, as many as 5,33,526 Ayushman cards have been created across the country till date. “Under the Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWCs) 51,473 health melas have been organised with a cumulative footfall of 21,46,545. As many as 55,70,999 screening for NCDs (hypertension, diabetes & three common cancers- oral, breast, cervical) have been done,” she said.
As many as 17,86,883 patients received free drugs and 14,06,031 patients received free diagnostics, the minister informed. Pawar further informed that 5,529 people took pledges for organ donation. “We are getting good responses from across the country. By October 2, we will get a clear picture of the acceptance of the programme in different States,” Pawar stated.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has initiated the ‘Ayushman Bhav’ campaign to enhance awareness about various healthcare schemes and to saturate critical healthcare services in rural and urban areas, with three major components 1 Ayushman Apke Dwar 3.0, Ayushman Mela and Ayushman Sabha. The campaign will continue till December 31.
