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Oct 25: Boosting Health Infrastructure- https://youtu.be/S1n9j-grD2k
TOPIC:
- GS-II: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health
Boosting Health Infrastructure
In News: Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission has been launched which will be one of the largest pan-India scheme for strengthening healthcare infrastructure across the country. The government will spend Rs 64,180 crore on the scheme from the financial year 2021-22 to 2025-26.
To address three critical gaps in India’s public health sector:
- Augmenting health facilities for treatment
- Setting up of Integrated Public Health labs for diagnosis of disease
- Expansion of existing research institutions that study pandemics
Component 1: Establish comprehensive surveillance of infectious diseases
- At the district level, Integrated Public Health laboratories in all 730 districts will be set up.
- At the state level, five regional branches and 20 metropolitan units of the National Centre for Disease Control.
- At the national level, an Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP) will be established.
Component 2: Creation of comprehensive diagnostics and treatment facilities
- At the district level, 17,788 new rural health and wellness centres will be set up; 11,024 new urban health and wellness centres will be set up; critical care hospital blocks will be established in each of 602 districts, with a population of more than 5 lakh.
- At the state level, 15 health emergency operation centres will be set up.
- At the national level, two container-based mobile hospitals will be set up; and critical care hospital blocks in 12 Government of India hospitals will be set up — which will also act as mentor institutions for training and capacity building.
Component 3: Comprehensive pandemic research
- At the district level, strengthening of existing 80 viral diagnostics and research labs will be undertaken.
- At the state level, 15 new bio-safety level III laboratories will be operationalised.
- At the national level, four new regional national institutes for virology will be operationalized and a regional research platform (digital) for WHO southeast Asia Region will also be set up.
Why is the scheme significant?
India has long been in need of a ubiquitous healthcare system. A study (‘State of Democracy in South Asia (SDSA)–Round 3’) by Lokniti-CSDS in 2019 highlighted how access to public health care remained elusive to those living on the margins. The study found that
- 70 per cent of the locations have public healthcare services. However, availability was less in rural areas (65 per cent) compared to urban areas (87 per cent).
- In 45 per cent of the surveyed locations, people could access healthcare services by walking, whereas in 43 per cent of the locations they needed to use transport.
- The survey also found that proximity to healthcare services is higher in urban localities: 64 per cent of the enumerators in urban areas observed that people can access healthcare services by walking, while only 37 per cent in rural areas can do so
Note: Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) is a flagship digital initiative involving the creation of not just a unique health ID for every citizen, but also a digital healthcare professionals and facilities registry.
Can you answer the following questions?
- Ayushman Bharat is one of the most ambitious health schemes ever launched in India. What can be the key challenges in proper implementation of this scheme?
- Right to health – A Fundamental Right
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