Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.

GS-3

AYUSHMAN BHARAT PROGRAMME

• The Ayushman Bharat programme was launched in 2018 to address health issues at all levels – primary, secondary, and tertiary.

It has two components:

1. Pradhan Mantri Jan ArogyaYojana (PM-JAY), earlier known as the National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS)
2. Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs)

 

• Ayushman Bharat is an integrated approach comprising health insurance and primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare.
• The HWCs are aimed at improving access to cheap and quality healthcare services at the primary level.
• PM-JAY will cover the financial protection for availing healthcare services at the secondary and tertiary levels.
• Ayushman Bharat is the largest government-funded healthcare programme in the world with over 50 crore beneficiaries. It has been dubbed ‘Modicare’.

Need for Ayushman Bharat

• The 71st round of the National Sample Survey Office  revealed many grim numbers about the country’s healthcare system.
• About 86% of rural households and 82% of urban households do not have access to healthcare insurance.
• Over 17% of the country’s population spend a minimum of 1/10th of their household budgets on availing health services.
• Unexpected and serious healthcare problems often lead families to debt.
• Over 19% and over 24% of the urban and rural households respectively meet their healthcare financial needs through borrowings.
• To address these grave concerns, the government, under the National Health Policy 2017, launched the Ayushman Bharat programme along with its two sub-missions, PMJAY and HWCs.

SOURCE:PIB