WHILE INAUGURATING the second edition of THE WEEK Health Summit in Delhi, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Anupriya Singh Patel’s multi-faceted persona was on display.
The successful politician, former teacher and trained counsellor went beyond listing successful policies of the government to highlight a relatively less-known initiative like the ABHA health ID card issued through Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission. A few sessions later Siddharth Bagga, head, (retail, CPG and health care), Google, would highlight the need for personal health records and longitudinal health history—the same objective that the ABHA card aims to achieve.
Patel said that the Narendra Modi government’s Ayushman Bharat initiative rests on four pillars. The first pillar is the Ayushman Aarogya Mandir (AAM) at the primary level, which now provides “a package of 13 different services”. Approximately, 1.74 lakh AAMs are operational, the minister said.
The second pillar is the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana, which has covered “12.74 crore beneficiary families”. And the cover of Rs5 lakh has been extended to senior citizens aged 70 and above. The third pillar the minister highlighted is the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, which will integrate data of both patients and clinicians though ABHA unique identities and the National Medical Register portal.
The fourth pillar Patel highlighted was the upgradation of health infrastructure, which includes the rollout of new AIIMS. “Prior to 2014, we had 387 medical colleges,” Patel said. “I proudly say that now India has 779. This has led to an increase in undergraduate and postgraduate medical seats—a 127 per cent increase in undergraduate seats and 135 per cent increase in postgraduate seats.”
In between, there was also a compliment for THE WEEK. “I do appreciate the role that THE WEEK plays regularly (in reporting on health care). And it’s also interesting to learn that the annual rankings of India’s best hospitals that you bring out are much-awaited in the industry.”