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Healthcare is one of the major sectors in the country both in terms of revenue and employment. The major initiatives taken by Government in this regard and Government’s plan to release additional resources for public health sector enabling it to get ready for future are as under:
1. Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Package
“Public Health and Hospitals” being a state subject, the primary responsibility of strengthening public healthcare system lies with the respective State Governments. However, under National Health Mission (NHM), technical and financial support is provided to the States/UTs to strengthen the public healthcare system at public healthcare facilities.
Further, all the States/UTs are provided with necessary financial support under India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package. Under the India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Package (COVID Package), States/UTs have been provided financial support, besides the supply of essential materials such as PPEs, N95 masks, ventilators, etc from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).
A Scheme on “India Covid-19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Package – Phase-II” (ECRP-Phase-II) during 2021-22 has been approved by the Cabinet on 8.07.2021 for an amount of Rs.23,123 crores, to be implemented in 9 months from 1st July, 2021 to 31st March, 2022. The Scheme is aimed to prevent, detect and respond to the continuing threat posed by COVID-19 and strengthen national health systems for preparedness in India. The scheme is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) with some Central Sector (CS) components.
Under CSS components of ECRP-II, support is provided to the States for provision for establishing District Pediatric Units (42 or 32 bedded units including Oxygen Supported beds and ICU beds) in all the Districts of the Country. Besides, support is also provided to increase the availability of ICU beds in Medical Colleges, District Hospitals, Sub District Hospitals and Community Health Centres. Further, taking into consideration, the recommendations of Empowered Group -1, support is extended to create pre-fabricated structures for establishing 6 bedded units at Sub Health Centres and Primary Health Centres and 20 bedded units at Community Health Centres for meeting the requirement of hospital beds in rural, peri-urban and tribal areas. Besides, the support is provided to provision of required drugs and diagnostics for COVID management, including maintaining a buffer stock for essential medicines required for effective COVID-19 management. Further, support is extended to establish Field Hospitals (100 bedded or 50 bedded units) wherever required.
Further, the ECRP-II has also a CS component of Central Procurement of essential medicines (including the emerging drugs, based on the needs) for effective management of COVID19
Also, to fast-track the availability of Medical Oxygen in rural and peri-urban areas, it is planned to provide 1 lakh Oxygen Concentrators to the CHCs, PHCs and SHCs including HWCs in the country so as to bring medical management closer to people and ensure the availability of critical resource of Oxygen closer to the public. This support is over and above the routine oxygen support available at such facilities through other sources (like state governments, NHM, ECRP etc.).
Accordingly, so far, more than 18,000 Oxygen Concentrators have been allocated to various States.
All these interventions will lead to the promotion of healthcare industry, as a whole, increasing the employment opportunities.
2. Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY)
Launched on 23rd September 2018, Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY is the largest Government funded health assurance/insurance scheme in the world. PM-JAY is a centrally sponsored scheme. It is entirely funded by Government and the funding is shared between Centre and States as per prevailing guidelines of Ministry of Finance. PM-JAY is an entitlement-based scheme. The households included are based on the deprivation and occupational criteria of Socio-Economic Caste Census 2011 (SECC 2011) for rural and urban areas respectively. Over 10.74 crore poor and vulnerable entitled families (approximately 50 crore beneficiaries) are eligible for these benefits. However, the beneficiary base under the scheme has been expanded by the 33 States/UTs implementing AB PM-JAY. In case of expansion of beneficiary base beyond eligible SECC families, States have to bear the financial burden corresponding to additional families.
PM- JAY has been designed to provide financial risk protection against catastrophic health expenditure that impoverishes an estimated 6 crore people every year. It provides a cover of Rs. 5 lakhs per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization across public and private empanelled hospitals in India. PM-JAY provides cashless access to health care services for the beneficiary at the point of service, that is, the hospital.
Current Implementation status of PM-JAY
As on 15th July 2021, the progress under AB PM-JAY since inception is as follows.
| Sl. No. | Parameter | Achievement |
| 1 | States/UTs implementing AB PM-JAY | 33 |
| 2 | Beneficiary cards issued (in Crores)# | 16.09 |
| 3 | Count of authorized hospital admissions (in Crores) | 1.94 |
| 4 | Amount of authorized hospital admissions in (Rs. Crores) | ~24,000 |
| 5 | Number of empaneled hospitals (40% private) | ~23,000* |
*Excluding only CAPF and only CGHS
# 4.68 Cr cards have been issued on the State’s IT system
3. Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY)
PMSSY Scheme Announced in 2003 and Launched in 2006
- Objective –
- to correct regional imbalances in the availability of tertiary healthcare services and
- to augment facilities for quality medical education in the country
- Two components
- setting up of new AIIMS like institutes and
- upgradation of existing Govt. Medical Colleges (GMCs)
A. Setting up of new AIIMS :
- 750/960 beds
- 18/17Speciality/Super-Speciality departments
- 100 MBBS/ 60 Nursing seats
- Focus on PG Education
B. Upgradation of GMCs: –
- Creation of Super-Specialty departments – ranging from 8 to 10
- Additional 150-200 beds
- Around 15 new PG seats
- Average cost: Rs. 200 crore – shared 60:40 between Centre and States (90:10 in case of NE and hilly states)
- HR and running cost to be provided by the State Govt.
- PMSSY – Progress
- Setting up of 22 new AIIMS and upgradation of 75 GMCs sanctioned so far
- Six AIIMS out of the sanctioned AIIMS are functional and upgradation of 50 GMCs completed
- 9 more AIIMS to be made functional by August, 2022 (cumulative 6+9 = 15 new AIIMS)
- PMSSY – 6 functional AIIMS
- All 6 AIIMS of phase I are functional – Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Jodhpur, Patna, Raipur and Rishikesh
- Envisaged bed strength i.e., 5,760 (960*6) fully functional
- Dedicated COVID facilities operational in all
- PMSSY – Status of remaining 16 AIIMS
A. MBBS classes & OPD started in 7 AIIMS:
(Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh; Mangalagiri, Andhra Pradesh; Nagpur, Maharashtra; Kalyani, West Bengal; Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh; Bathinda, Punjab; Bibinagar, Telangana)
B. Only MBBS classes started in 5 AIIMS:
(Guwahati, Assam; Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh; Deoghar, Jharkhand; Samba, Jammu and Rajkot, Gujarat – all from temporary campus, except at AIIMS, Bilaspur)
4. Medical Education
There are three Centrally Sponsored Schemes under Medical Education, namely,
- Establishment of new Medical Colleges attached with existing district/referral hospitals,
- Upgradation of existing State Government/Central Government medical colleges to increase MBBS seats in the country and
- Strengthening and upgradation of State Government Medical colleges for starting new PG disciplines and increasing PG seats.
5. Efforts of Ministry of AYUSH
The rapid growth of the AYUSH Sector, scientific cultivation of medicinal plants, expansion of AYUSH Education and health infrastructure, Skill upgradation and global acceptance of Yoga and Ayurveda have opened up new opportunities for revenue and employment. As estimated by IMARC (2021), the Ayurveda market is expected to grow by around 15 per cent during 2020-2025. The initiatives taken by the Ministry of AYUSH to promote AYUSH systems of medicine and for combating the challenges of COVID-19 are as under:
- Ministry of AYUSH is implementing a Centrally Sponsored Scheme of National AYUSH Mission to provide cost-effective AYUSH Services by upgrading AYUSH Hospitals, Dispensaries and AYUSH educational institutions, setting up new AYUSH hospitals and teaching institutions and also operationalization of 12,500 AYUSH Health & Wellness Centres.
- The Government of India has approved the continuation of Centrally Sponsored Scheme of National AYUSH Mission (NAM) from 01-04-2021 to 31-03-2026 with a financial implication of ₹ 4607.30 Crore (₹ 3000.00 Crore as Central Share and ₹ 1607.30 Crore as State Share).
- In view of the urgent need of meeting the challenge of increased demand of AYUSH healthcare products for immunity boosting and manufacturing of sanitizers, all the State AYUSH Licensing Authorities/Drug Controllers and Expert Committees there under have been directed vide order dated 2nd April, 2020 to complete the licensing/approval/renewal process expeditiously and dispose of the applications of the manufacturers maximum within a week, provided the prescribed standards and relevant provisions of the Drugs & Cosmetics Rules, 1945, in terms of use of ingredients and permitted excipients in accordance with the authoritative books including Pharmacopoeias and Formularies, are fulfilled. It is also appealed to the State Authorities to send the list of manufacturers and details of such ASU products being licensed /approved under their jurisdiction.
- Ministry of AYUSH has developed the Champion Services Sector Scheme for Medical Value Travel to promote medical tourism in traditional medicine. There are three sub-schemes under the Champion Services Sector scheme for medical value Travel.
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- Central Sector Scheme for Establishment of AYUSH Super-speciality Hospitals/ Day care centres.
- Central Sector Scheme for Skill Development
- Central Sector Scheme for establishing AYUSH Grid:
Objectives
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- To encourage private investors to invest in the AYUSH sector through the Establishment of World Class, State of the Art Super Specialty Hospitals/Day Care Centres.
- To develop AYUSH specific skilled human resources.
- To promote Export of Services
- Digitization of data.
- Financial outlay
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- The total financial outlay is Rs 769 crore for five years
- Rs.514 crore for central sector scheme for the establishment of AYUSH Super Speciality hospitals/ day care centres
- Rs. 155 crores For Central Sector scheme for Skill Development.
- Rs. 100 crores For Central sector scheme for the establishment of AYUSH Grid. A mega digital platform for connecting all AYUSH related institutions/ hospitals to generate various types of data for the requirement of Information gathering, sharing and further processes.
- To support the industries and healthcare systems of India, under Drug Policy Section, Ministry of AYUSH ‘AYUSH oushadhi gunvatta evam uttpadan samvardhan yojana (aogusy) the central sector scheme for augmenting the quality of AYUSH drugs’ is being implemented with following objectives
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- To enhance India’s manufacturing capabilities and exports of traditional medicines and health promotion products under the initiative of Atmanirbhar Bharat.
- To facilitate adequate infrastructural & technological upgradation and institutional activities in the public and private sector for standardization, quality manufacturing and analytical testing of AYUSH drugs & materials.
- To strengthen regulatory frameworks at the Central and State levels for effective quality control, safety monitoring and surveillance of misleading advertisements of AYUSH drugs.
- To encourage building up synergies, collaborations and convergent approaches for promoting standards and quality of AYUSH drugs & materials.
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- Ministry of Commerce and Industry approved for setting up an Export Promotion Council (EPC) for AYUSH products.
- It will facilitate the promotion of exports of AYUSH products and services, harmonization and standardization of regulatory practices.
- Ayurveda Ahar with FSSAI: Draft Gazette Notification is released
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- Ministry, in collaboration with FSSAI, has worked on Ayurveda Ahar to promote Ayurveda based food industry.
- With an intention to develop skilled manpower in AYUSH sector, a Sub Council on AYUSH in Healthcare Sector Skill Council (HSSC) has been formed by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
The Union Minister of State for Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar stated this in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha here today.
Illegal vaccine trials214. SHRI MOHD. ALI KHAN: Willthe Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE be pleased to state:
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MV
HFW/Initiatives to Promote Indian Healthcare Industry/20 July 2021/7
