The Union Health Ministry has launched the nationwide health campaign 'Ayushman Bhava' on 17 September 2023. It was launched by President Draupadi Murmu on 13 September 2023. This campaign has been launched with the aim of creating healthy villages and healthy gram panchayats and ultimately achieving complete health coverage in the country. This campaign was officially launched which will continue from 17 September to 2 October. This initiative will be led by Gram Panchayats in collaboration with government departments in both rural and urban areas. The objective of this program is to distribute Ayushman cards, create ABHA IDs and promote health care programs and raise awareness about diseases like non-communicable diseases, tuberculosis and sickle cell anemia.
Under this campaign, the government will reach out to those people who have not yet received the benefits of 'Ayushman Bharat Yojana'. Under ‘Ayushman Bharat Yojana’, common people get health insurance cover of up to Rs 5 lakh from the government. For this, health insurance ‘Ayushman Card’ is issued to the people.
The campaign aims to achieve this through its three components – Ayushman Aapke Dwar 3.0, Ayushman Melas at Health and Wellness Centers (HWCs) and Community Health Centers (CHCs) and Ayushman Sabhas in every village and panchayat.
When was the Ayushman Bhava campaign started?
The Government of India started this scheme in the year 2018, when a target was set to provide its benefits to 50 crore people. However, people after 2011 census could not be included in it and the number of such people is around 10 crores. Therefore, now the government has increased the target of this scheme to a population of 60 crores.
Key points
- Treatment of each identified patient will be started, which will include testing for everything from TB, cancer to diabetes and hypertension.
- Hundred percent regular vaccination of village children will be ensured.
- Through Ayushman card, they will get the facility of free treatment up to Rs 5 lakh annually.
- With the creation of Abha ID, the need for people to keep old records of their treatment and tests will be eliminated.
- Principal Secretary Medical and Health Partha Sarathi Sen Sharma said that apart from diabetes and hypertension, screening of oral, breast and cervical cancer will be done so that treatment of such patients can be started. And out of every thousand people, 30 people will be tested for TB.