In its first year, Ayushman Bharat led to nine hospital admissions every minute for those covered under the scheme. Ayushman Bharat, or the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), has allowed beneficiaries to avail fifty lakh treatments according to Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan. “The Ayushman Bharat family is growing by leaps and bounds,” […]
Harsh Vardhan
At last, NMC members have been chosen
25 National Medical Commission (NMC) members have been chosen, inching the Union Health Ministry closer to realising its overhaul of the medical education sector in India. “25 part-time members, including ten vice-chancellors (VCs) from different states, nine representatives from the state medical councils (SMCs) and four members for the four autonomous boards, were selected,” announced […]
Health spending needs to increase: Vardhan to states
Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has urged state governments to increase their health spending in order to achieve government targets of a central boost to health spending. “We together have achieved several health milestones, especially India being certified polio-free,” Vardhan said as he inaugurated the 13th Conference of the Central Council of Health and […]
Oral health awareness: AIIMS and Health Ministry partner up
In an effort to raise oral health awareness in India, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare have collaborated to launch a digital program called ‘e-DantSeva’. The platform, in the form of a website and mobile app, will provide information concerning the government-run National Oral […]
IMA raises concerns over Ayushman Bharat
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has spoken out on the Centre’s flagship health insurance scheme, Ayushman Bharat, raising some misgivings about the initiative and suggesting improvements. Perhaps the main criticism was the insurance-based model, with IMA national president Dr Santanu Sen questioning “why should it be done through insurance companies by paying fifteen percent to […]
TB cases spiked in India last year
Tuberculosis (TB) cases spiked in India last year, according to the latest government figures. This is according to the latest government figures, which indicated that 27 lakh cases were recorded in the country in 2018. This included 21.5 lakh cases notified to the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) compared to eighteen lakh cases notified […]
Ayushman Bharat: One year in
Today marked the one-year anniversary of the launch of Ayushman Bharat, with reports indicating the scope of the initiative’s success – and plans for its future. Officially known as the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), Ayushman Bharat offers health insurance coverage of Rs 5 lakh per family per year to economically vulnerable families – […]
Ayushman Bharat: 47 lakh beneficiaries in one year
On September 23rd, Ayushman Bharat will mark the one-year anniversary of its launch – and, if recent data is anything to go by, the first year has been a success with more than forty lakh beneficiaries. Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has announced that more than ten crore e-cards have been issued to beneficiaries […]
HWCs: Almost 21,000 built under Ayushman Bharat
![A primary health centre in Thuravoor, Kerala. Strengthening India's primary healthcare infrastructure through HWCS is a core of Ayushman Bharat. (Image credit: Ranjithsiji [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons)](https://i1.wp.com/www.healthissuesindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/800px-Thuravoor_Primary_Health_Center_Main_Building.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1 "Healthcare equipment: The greatest disparity?")
More than 20,000 health and wellness centres (HWCs) are operational across India. HWCs mark a major commitment by the Centre to strengthening primary healthcare infrastructure in the country, coming as part of its flagship health insurance initiative, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) or Ayushman Bharat. In the previous year, 20,942 HWCs have become […]
Eat Right India: Government push for a more nutritious society
A major campaign to improve nutrition in India has been launched, as the Centre tells the country it’s high time to start eating right with the launch of the Eat Right India movement. “The ‘Green Good Deeds’, a campaign to protect [the] environment and promote healthy living, has found global acceptance, and the ‘Eat Right […]