West Bengal govt should implement Ayushman Bharat at ground level for benefit of people: Mandaviya

The West Bengal government should implement Ayushman Bharat at the ground-level in order to provide its benefit to the people in the state, Mansukh Mandaviya, Union health minister, has said.

In West Bengal, the state government runs its own medical insurance scheme, Swasthya Sathi. The scheme was launched by the state health and family welfare department in 2016.

Mandaviya said that the Centre is committed to providing quality healthcare services to all citizens of the state. “The state government should implement Ayushman Bharat at the ground level for benefit to the people of West Bengal.

We are taking all necessary steps to ensure that the health services in the state are of the highest quality,” an official (PIB) release quoted him as saying.

The minister, who was on a visit to the state on Friday, took a look at the Centre’s health services programmes in the state.

“During his visit, he reviewed the Ayushman Bharat Health & Wellness Centres, National TB Elimination Program, status of funds released under National Health Mission (NHM), Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM), Telemedicine services, Medical Education, and Sickle Cell Anemia Elimination Program,” the official release stated.

“The Ayushman Bharat Health & Wellness Centre is a great initiative to provide comprehensive primary healthcare services to people near their homes,” the minister said.

In West Bengal, the minister added, 800 sub-centres, under the National Health Mission, have been approved. This would incur a cost of Rs 288.72 crores. Besides, two urban community health centres, and 404 ayushman bharat urban health and wellness centres have also been approved.

Reviewing the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme, the minister said that the government is committed to eliminating tuberculosis by 2025.

“West Bengal has witnessed 10,358 Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres being operationalised with a footfall of 16,82,87,430 and 2,08,42,397 teleconsultations have been carried out,” the official release stated, attributing the same to the minister.