Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan stated that the Government has operationalized around 75, 532 Ayushman Bharat-Health and Wellness Centre (AB-HWCs) across India since 2018. He stated that India is on track to achieve its target of operationalizing 1.5 Lakh Health and Wellness Centre (HWCs) by December 2022.
- He stated it during an event held to mark the 3rd Anniversary of the launch of AB-HWC.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 1st AB-HWC at Jangla, Bijapur district, Chhattisgarh on April 14, 2018.
Key Points
- Women are playing a major role in AB-HWC as all Frontline Health Workers, ASHAs (Accredited Social Health Activist) & Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANMs) comprise of women.
- AB-HWCs screen individuals for Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) like Hypertension & Diabetes, it also conducts screening of three common cancers – oral cancer, breast cancer & cervical cancer.
- 19 states & 5 UTs were felicitated for having achieved the AB-HWC state-level targets for the year 2020-21.
Launching of initiatives
- Inauguration of a HWC Portal which provides a public interface to access useful information on services provided at HWCs.
Felicitation of States
During the event, several states were felicitated for exceptional performance under AB-HWC
- Mizoram, Meghalaya, Rajasthan for conduct of wellness activities at AB-HWCs for April, 2020 to February, 2021.
- Kerala, Telangana, Gujarat for Screening of Non-Communicable Diseases for April, 2020 to February, 2021.
- Haryana, Tripura and Chhattisgarh for adoption of HWC app by AB-HWCs till 31st March, 2021.
Punjab tops in Operationalization of HWCs
According to the Ranking of states for 2020-21 released by the Government, Punjab achieved the 1st rank in operationalising HWCs in India.
- Punjab achieved the Target of operationalising 1, 435 HWCs (during 2020-21) given by Government for 2020-21 (180% achievement).
Budget outlay for Health and Wellbeing
i.During the Union Budget 2021-22, INR 2, 23, 846 Crores was allocated to Health and Wellbeing which is an increase of 137% .
- Major Allocations – INR 64,180 crore for Pradhan Mantri AtmaNirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana (PM-ASBY) & INR 35,000 Crores for COVID-19 vaccine.
- The allocation to PM-ASBY will help in development of primary, secondary and tertiary care health Systems in the next 5 years.
- Allocation of PM-ASBY will provide support to 17, 788 rural and 11, 024 urban Health and Wellness Centres and will help in meeting the gap in infrastructure shortfalls.
Background
- Ayushman Bharat was launched in 2018 with its two main pillars of HWCs & Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY).
- The HWCs provides services to people and sustains the efforts for provision of Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal, Child, Adolescent and Nutrition (RMNCHA+N) services and control of communicable diseases.
- The main objective of AB-HWC is to bring health-care services closer to the community.
Recent Related News:
i.On 13th August 2020, The Governing board of National Health Authority (NHA) approved the proposal to integrate the existing health schemes of the central ministries with the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) for employees.
About Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW)
Union Minister – Harsh Vardhan (Lok Sabha MP from Chandni Chowk, NCT of Delhi)
Minister of State – Ashwini Kumar Choubey (Lok Sabha MP from Buxar, Bihar)
