The Mission will lead to development of critical healthcare network from village to block to the district to the regional and national level

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday launched PM Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission in Varanasi.

While launching one of the largest pan-India schemes for strengthening healthcare infrastructure, from his parliamentary constituency Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, PM Modi said that this mission will provide new energy and new development to India's health facilities.

The Prime Minister said the country has achieved a major milestone of 100 crore vaccine doses in its fight against the corona epidemic.

The Prime Minister lamented that in post-independent India, health infrastructure did not get the required attention for a very long time and citizens had to run from pillar to post for proper treatment, leading to worsening of the condition and financial strain.

This led to a persistent worry about medical treatment in the hearts of the middle class and poor people, he added. Those whose governments remained in the country for a long time, instead of the all-around development of the country's healthcare system, kept it deprived of facilities, he argued.

The Prime Minister said that PM Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission aims to tackle this deficiency, Modi stated.

“The aim is to strengthen the critical healthcare network from village to block to the district to the regional and national level in the next 4-5 years,” he informed.

Describing the initiative taken by the government under the new Mission, the Prime Minister said that there are 3 major aspects of the Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission to address the different gaps in the health sector of the country.

The first is related to the creation of elaborate facilities for diagnostics and treatment, he explained. Under this, Health and Wellness Centers are being opened in villages and cities, where there will be facilities for early detection of diseases, the Prime Minister said.

Facilities like free medical consultation, free tests, free medicine will be available in these centres, he informed. For serious illness, 35 thousand new critical care-related beds are being added in 600 districts and referral facilities will be given in 125 districts, PM Modi mentioned.

The second aspect of the scheme, the Prime Minister said, is related to the testing network for the diagnosis of diseases.

Under this mission, the necessary infrastructure will be developed for the diagnosis and monitoring of diseases, he noted. 730 districts of the country will get Integrated Public Health labs and 3 thousand blocks will get Block Public Health Units, the Prime Minister said.

Apart from that, 5 Regional National Centers for Disease Control, 20 Metropolitan units, and 15 BSL labs will further strengthen this network, he stated.

The Third aspect, according to the Prime Minister, is the expansion of existing research institutions that study pandemics.

Existing 80 Viral Diagnostic and research labs will be strengthened, 15 Biosafety level 15 labs will be operationalized, 4 new National institutes of Virology and a National Institute for One Health are being established, he informed.

WHO regional research platform for South Asia will also strengthen this network, the Prime Minister said.

“This means, through PM Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission an entire ecosystem for services from treatment to critical research will be created in every corner of the country”, he mentioned.

The Prime Minister highlighted the employment potential of these measures and said that PM Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission, along with health, is also a medium of atma nirbharta.

He said, “It is a part of the effort to achieve holistic health care. Which means healthcare that is affordable and accessible to all.”

Modi said that holistic healthcare focuses on wellness along with health. Schemes like Swachh Bharat Mission, Jal Jeevan Mission, Ujjwala, Poshan Abhiyan, Mission Indradhanush have saved crores of people from disease.

More than 2 crore poor people got free treatment under Ayushman Bharat Yojna and Many health related issues are being solved through Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister remarked that today there is a government at the Center and in the state which understands the pain of the poor, downtrodden, oppressed, backward and middle class. “We are working day and night to improve health facilities in the country”, said the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister said the speed with which new medical colleges are being opened in Uttar Pradesh will have a great impact on the number of medical seats and doctors in the state. Due to more seats, now the children of poor parents will also be able to dream of becoming a doctor and fulfil it, he added.

He also inaugurated various development projects worth around Rs 5200 crore for Varanasi.

Governor and Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Union Ministers, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey, State Ministers and people’s representatives were among those present on the occasion.