New Delhi, Dec 13 (PTI) More than 81,000 health and wellness centres (HWCs) have been operationalised in the country and the target of 1.1 lakh HWCs will be achieved by the end of March 2022, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar said on Monday.
Building a healthcare system that is resilient and sturdy forms the foundation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” (a self-reliant India), Pawar said while chairing the “Universal Health Coverage Day, 2021” ceremony and a daylong workshop of technical discussions on the theme “Leave No One’s Health Behind: Invest in Health Systems For All” here, a statement issued by the health ministry said.
The minister said with a focus on the provisioning of quality healthcare, covering the primary, secondary and tertiary spheres, the government launched the all-encompassing Ayushman Bharat Yojana in 2018 with the goal of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vishwas” in mind, the statement said.
While primary healthcare with the aim of providing services close to the community was launched in 2018, this was strengthened with the AB-PMJAY in September 2018 and the Ayushman Digital Mission and the Prime Minister Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission this year.
“The focus is on wellness and quality of care,” Pawar said.
She noted that while COVID-19 led to a delay in several activities all over the world, in India, the work on the HWCs picked up pace despite the pandemic. More than 81,000 HWCs have been operationalised and the target of 1.1 lakh will be achieved by the end of March 2022, the minister added.
“We are moving ahead to meet the goal of Universal Health Coverage with a ‘Whole of Society’ approach with Sahbhagyata and Sankalp,” she was quoted in the statement as saying.
Pawar expressed her gratitude and appreciation to all the healthcare workers for their exemplary work during the challenging times of COVID-19.
“The concept of ‘Health For All’ is a guiding motto under which we work as health soldiers,” she said.
The Union minister congratulated the states, the frontline and healthcare workers and the development partners for the administration of more than 133 crore vaccine doses under the nationwide Covid inoculation drive.
She felicitated the states under the categories of “Best AB-HWC — Primary Healthcare Team Awards”, “Best Performing state/UT under Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav”, “Screening of NCDs and common cancers at AB-HWCs”, “Creation of Digital Health IDs” and “PMJAY-NHA Awards”, the statement said.
Pawar also launched a coffee-table book on good and replicable healthcare practices, and training manuals for primary healthcare teams on an expanded package of services.
A text message feature was also launched under the NPCDCS programme, which will help create awareness on non-communicable diseases, according to the statement.
