National Health Mission has curbed several public health concerns, says Centre’s report

Context: The National Health Mission (NHM) has significantly contributed to
improving India’s public health, including lowering of the maternal mortality
ratio, incidence of tuberculosis (TB), and sickle cell anaemia. It has also
contributed to expanding human resources in the field while fostering an
integrated response to health emergencies, the Union government said on
Wednesday in its assessment report (2021-24) presented to the Union Cabinet. Under
NHM, the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) has declined by 83% since 1990, which
is higher than the global decline of 45%. Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) has
fallen from 39 per 1,000 live births in 2014 to 28 in 2020.

Key points

·       Overview: Listing out key
achievements of the NHM in the past three years, the Centre noted that there
had been a significant increase in human resources within the healthcare
sector.

·       Data
from the report: In FY 2021-22, NHM facilitated the engagement of
2.69 lakh additional healthcare workers, including general duty medical
officers, specialists, staff nurses, AYUSH doctors, allied healthcare workers,
and public health managers. Additionally, 90,740 community health officers
(CHOs) were engaged. This number grew in subsequent years, with 4.21 lakh
additional healthcare professionals engaged in FY 2022-23, including 1.29 lakh
CHOs, and 5.23 lakh workers engaged in FY 2023-24, which included 1.38 lakh
CHOs.

·       Support
to States & Union Territories (UT): Health Facilities - NHM
support is provided to States/UTs for setting up of new facilities as per norms
and upgradation of existing facilities for bridging the infrastructure gaps
based on the requirement posed by them.

Health Services
-
NHM support is also provided for provision of a range of free services related
to maternal health, child health, adolescent health, family planning, universal
immunisation programme, and for major diseases such as Tuberculosis, vector
borne diseases like Malaria, Dengue and Kala Azar, Leprosy etc.

·       Major
Initiatives Supported Under NHM: Janani Shishu Suraksha
Karyakram (JSSK). Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK). Ayushman Bharat. Pradhan
Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY). PM National Dialysis Programme.

·       Growth
in Public Health Facilities: NHM adopts a health system approach and
targets to build a network for public health facilities with Health &
Wellness Centres at the grassroot level and District Hospitals, with robust
referral linkage, to offer Comprehensive primary and secondary care services to
citizens.

·       Equitable
Development: A more recent effort at ensuring equity in access and use, is the
Aspirational district initiative, in which 115 districts across 28 states, with
weak social and human development indicators have been identified for
allocation of additional resources and capacity enhancement to catch up with
more progressive districts.

·       Health
Sector Reforms: NHM enabled the design and implementation of
reforms specifically related to Governance, Procurement and Technology.

·       Addressing
high Out-of-Pocket Expenditure (OOPE): Recognising the need for
reducing the current high levels of OOPE, and that, almost 70% of the OOPE is
on account of drugs and diagnostics, the Free Drugs and Free Diagnostics
Services Initiatives have been implemented under the NHM.