India, ADB Sign $300 Million Loan Deal To Improve Primary Healthcare System In 13 States

The facility is expected to benefit about 25.6 crore urban residents, out of which 5.1 crore are from slum areas

Representational image | Photo: Getty

New Delhi: The central government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have signed a $300-million loan agreement. This agreement is aimed to strengthen and improve access to comprehensive primary healthcare in urban areas of 13 states across the country.

According to PTI, the programme will be implemented in 13 states — Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and West Bengal.

The facility is expected to benefit about 25.6 crore urban residents, out of which 5.1 crore are from slum areas.

Rajat Kumar Mishra, additional secretary of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance and Sokiyo Konishi, on behalf of ADB, signed the agreement. Sokio Konishi is the country director of ADB’s India Resident Mission. 

According to release by the Ministry of Finance, Mishra said, “The programme supports the government’s key health initiatives Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWC) and Pradhan Mantri Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana (PM-ASBY), which has been renamed as Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM) by expanding availability and access to quality primary health care services particularly for the vulnerable populations in urban areas.”  

The new health scheme is targeted to provide quality healthcare services to the people at the primary level itself. Out of these, more focus would be on those who are very vulnerable to diseases, despite living in urban areas.

This programme is supported by a $2 million technical assistance grant from ADB’s Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction to provide support for programme implementation and coordination, capacity building, innovation, knowledge sharing, and application of scalable best practices across the healthcare system.