AYUSHMAN BHARAT HEALTH AND WELLNESS CENTERS – POLITY
News: Centre
adding more services to Ayushman Bharat-Health and Wellness Centres
What's in the news?
● India’s
five-year-old Ayushman Bharat-Health and Wellness Centers (AB-HWCs) programme,
which has grown to more than 1.60 lakhs centers
and registered a footfall of over 178.87 crore (as of June end), is
undergoing its biggest ever expansion of services, confirmed sources in the
Health Ministry.
Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centers (AB-HWC):
● AB-HWCs,
started in 2018, is aimed at
bringing in promotive, preventive,
curative, palliative and rehabilitative aspects of Universal Health Coverage.
Goal:
● To
provide Comprehensive Primary Health
Care (CPHC), including both maternal and child health services and non-communicable
diseases as well as free essential drugs and diagnostic services through
AB-HWCs closer to the homes of people.
Target:
● 1,50,000 Sub
Health Centers (SHC), Primary Health Centers (PHC) and Urban Primary Health Centers
(UPHC) to be transformed as Health Wellness Centers.
Features:
● Moving
beyond the management of illnesses to comprehensive primary health care and
wellness package activities at AB-HWC include yoga, zumba, meditation,
counselling for healthy diet and lifestyle, marathons, cyclothons, celebration
of annual health days etc.
● As
on June 30, more than 2.16 crores wellness sessions have been conducted with
participation of 23.83 crores individuals.
Recent Additions:
Added services:
● Screening,
prevention, control & management of non-communicable diseases
● Care
for common ophthalmic & ENT problems
● Basic
oral health care
● Elderly
and palliative health care services
● Emergency
medical services
● Screening
and management of mental health ailments.
Expanded Essential list of Medicines and Diagnostics:
● To
complement the expanded services, the essential list of medicines and
diagnostics has been expanded to make available 171 medicines at Primary Health
Care-Health and Wellness Centers (HWCs) and 105 at Secondary Health Care-HWC
and 63 diagnostics at PHC-HWC and 14 at SHC-HWC.
Community Health Officers:
● A
new cadre of Community Health Officers, 1.29 lakh in position, has been
introduced at the level of SHC-HWC to act
as clinicians as well as public health managers.
● They
were formed to lead the team of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA),
Anganwadi Workers (AWW) and Auxiliary Nurse Midwifes (ANM).
National Quality Assurance Standards (NQAS) assessment
and certification:
● The
facilities are being encouraged to undergo the National Quality Assurance
Standards (NQAS) assessment and certification with a target to realize 50% of the public health facilities
being certified by 2026.