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Govt Working to Ensure All Indians have a Productive Life
- Public health experts lauded the cost reduction of tertiary care and focus on primary care and wellness under the scheme.
- They project that as many as 70 crore people can benefit from the scheme if big states West Bengal, Odisha, and Telangana join Ayushman Bharat.
- Experts suggest National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) must use the existing platforms such as CGHS and ESI for a faster reach.
- Ayushman Bharat was launched in 2018 and addresses financial concerns of nearly 5.5 crore people, which is more than the population of South Korea, Spain, or Kenya, who are pushed into poverty within a years’ time due to healthcare costs.
New Delhi, December 10, 2020:
Ramdas Athawale, Hon’ble Minister of State for Social Justice & Empowerment today highlighted that the government is working hard to ensure all Indians have productive life, even in challenging times of a pandemic. Speaking at the Ayushman Bharat e-conclave 2.0 by the Integrated Health and Wellbeing (IHW) Council in the presence of leading public health experts from all over India, he said that Ayushman Bharat has become a tool of social justice by increasing access to tertiary care of the poor.
“Earlier, poor people were afraid of going to a private hospital for the fear of huge bills. Ayushman Bharat has ensured people can get health services at a facility of their choice. By enabling the beneficiaries to get affordable healthcare wherever they please, Ayushman Bharat has established itself firmly as a tool of social justice. Its success shows social justice is a priority for us. We are working hard to ensure every Indian gets what they need for a productive life, even in challenging times of a pandemic to make the vision of ‘Ek Bharat, Swasth Bharat’ come true,” says Ramdas Athawale, Hon’ble Minister of State for Social Justice & Empowerment, Govt. of India.
“The primary focus of Ayushman Bharat is on treating diseases and providing access to people who did not have it earlier – the pandemic has established the connection between infectious and non-infectious diseases. However, the high cost of tertiary treatment is a challenge and the reduction of cost is laudable. Primary care and wellness, the more fundamental need, got focus under the scheme. However, it is time to monitor the existing scope of work and expand it – we need to focus on malnutrition, clean air and water that will require combined effort,” says Dr Ambrish Mithal, Member, Governing Board of National Health Authority (NHA).
“There was hesitance in people initially in accepting private healthcare but they opened up. We have provided implants, medical devices, medicines, and even sanitary napkins to a large number of people who could not get them before Ayushman Bharat happened. While incremental innovation must happen but basic necessities must be taken care of,” says Dr. (Prof) Y. K. Gupta, President, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhopal.
“We will need campaigns like that of Jan Dhan Yojana or Swachh Bharat to popularise it. If big states West Bengal, Odisha, and Telangana join Ayushman Bharat, as many as 70 crore people can benefit from the scheme. The National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) that will combine all different IDs must use the existing platforms such as CGHS and ESI for a faster reach,” says Dr Nishant Jain, Program Director, German International Corporation (GIZ).
Dr Chandrakant Lahariya, National Professional Officer – Healthcare, Access & Protection, World Health Organization, Mr Ravi Bhatnagar, Director – External Affairs and Partnerships Asia Middle East, Reckitt Benckiser, Dr. Priya Balu, Senior Public Health Scientist, Director, PHFI-RNE Universal Health Initiative, Dr Anil Kukreja, Vice President- Medical & Regulatory Affairs, AstraZeneca, Mr Sanjiv Navangul, Managing Director & CEO, Bharat Serums and Vaccines Limited, (Hony) Brig Dr Arvind Lal, Padma Shri, Executive Chairman, Dr. Lal PathLabs Limited, Mr H.S.D. Srinivas, Director – Health, Tata Trusts, and Dr. Hema Divakar, CEO of ARTIST and FOGSI Ambassador to The International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics also joined the conclave.
“Living a long, healthy, and productive life is still a dream for many or as the cost of getting that life can take away the very meaning of it. The very cost of restoring health or just part of it pushes nearly 5.5 crore people, which is more than the population of South Korea, Spain, or Kenya, into poverty within a years’ time. The launch of Ayushman Bharat in September 2018 witnessed a first but the most decisive step towards making good health and care available to those who couldn’t afford it till then or would go bankrupt in an attempt to get it. Ayushman Bharat envisions making Indians live a long, healthy and productive life again that our ancestors appeared to have enjoyed as their natural right,” says Kamal Narayan, CEO, IHW Council.
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