Healthcare body all praise for ‘Ayushman Bharat’ initiative

Hyderabad: Association of Healthcare Providers of India (AHPI), the largest body to represent 9,500 private hospitals of 200 and 500-bedded hospitals in the country, hails “Ayushman Bharat”.

R Govind Hari, president, AHPI - Telangana Chapter, said that the two of the landmark initiatives the government came out under Ayushman Bharat would put renewed emphasis on preventive care. The initiatives at the same time would strengthen primary diagnostic care, which has proved to be the weak link in India’s health system, he stated.

Speaking about the second initiative, Govind said it was going to be a game changer as it would for the first time provide an opportunity for poorest of the poor to get secondary and tertiary care for serious ailments at massive cover of Rs 5 lakh per family.

The two main initiatives under Ayushman Bharat are, the government has announced the launch of Rs 1.5 lakh Health & Wellness centres to bring primary and promotive health care system closer to the homes of people. The Budgetary allocation for this flagship programme is in the tune of Rs.1,200 crore. Contribution of private sector through CSR and philanthropic institutions in adopting these centres is also envisaged, Govind informed.

Reference to the Health & Wellness Centers was made in the national health policy released on March 15, 2017.Few states including Haryana, Punjab and J&K are known to have initiated converting some of their sub-centers in to HWCs. Haryana & Punjab governments have planned to train community health officers, who would manage these centers, with specialist doctor from nearby PHC or CHC visiting HWCs on regular basis.