Boost To Healthcare Sector: PM Modi Extends Ayushman Bharat Scheme Coverage To All Senior Citizens Above 70
Prime Minister Modi launched a slew of projects worth Rs 12,850 crore, including drone delivery services at 11 tertiary healthcare institutions.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday extended his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government's flagship health insurance scheme Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) to all senior citizens aged 70 years and above. Now the scheme will cover all senior citizens aged 70, regardless of their economic background
During an event at All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) in New Delhi, coinciding with Dhanvantari Jayanti (birthday of the Hindu god of medicine) and the 9th Ayurveda Day, the Prime Minister also launched development projects worth nearly Rs 12,850 crore and handed over the Ayushman Vaya Vandana Card to the beneficiaries.
PM Modi also inaugurated phase II of India's first All India Institute of Ayurveda in the national capital which includes a Panchakarma hospital, an Ayurvedic pharmacy for drug manufacturing, a sports medicine unit, a central library, an IT and startup incubation centre, and a 500-seat auditorium among others.
Medical Supply Delivery Service
To enhance service delivery and make healthcare more accessible, Modi launched drone services at 11 tertiary healthcare institutions. These are AIIMS-Rishikesh in Uttarakhand, AIIMS-Bibinagar in Telangana, AIIMS-Guwahati in Assam, AIIMS-Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, AIIMS-Jodhpur in Rajasthan, AIIMS-Patna in Bihar, AIIMS-Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh, AIIMS-Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh, AIIMS-Raipur in Chhattisgarh, AIIMS-Mangalagiri in Andhra Pradesh and RIMS-Imphal in Manipur.
The prime minister also launched a helicopter emergency medical service from AIIMS Rishikesh, which will help deliver medical care speedily.
Technological Outreach
The Prime Minister also launched a U-WIN portal that seeks to benefit pregnant women and infants by fully digitising the vaccination process. The portal will ensure the timely administration of life-saving vaccines to pregnant women and children (from birth to 16 years) against 12 vaccine-preventable diseases, as per an official release.
Further, Modi also launched a portal for allied and healthcare professionals and institutes. It will act as a centralised database of existing healthcare professionals and institutes.
New Medical Colleges
Modi also inaugurated three medical colleges at Mandsaur, Neemuch and Seoni in Madhya Pradesh, besides facility and service extensions at various AIIMS -- Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh, Kalyani in West Bengal, Patna in Bihar, Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, Guwahati in Assam and in New Delhi, which also include a Jan Aushadhi Kendra.
He inaugurated a Super Speciality Block in Government Medical College at Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh and a Critical Care Block in Bargarh, Odisha and laid the foundation stones of five nursing colleges in Shivpuri, Ratlam, Khandwa, Rajgarh and Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh, 21 critical care blocks at Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Manipur, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan under the Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission, and several facilities and service extensions at AIIMS in New Delhi and Himachal Pradesh's Bilaspur.
Among other projects, Modi inaugurated an ESIC hospital at Indore in Madhya Pradesh and laid the foundation stone for such hospitals at Faridabad in Haryana, Bommasandra and Narasapur in Karnataka, Indore in Madhya Pradesh, Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, and Atchutapuram in Andhra Pradesh. These projects are expected to bring healthcare benefits to around 55 lakh ESI beneficiaries.
Boost To Medical Infrastructure
The other projects whose foundation stones were laid include a central research institute in yoga and naturopathy at Khordha in Odisha and Raipur in Chhattisgarh, centres of excellence at NIPER-Ahmedabad for medical devices, at NIPER-Hyderabad for bulk drugs, NIPER-Guwahati for phytopharmaceuticals, and NIPER-Mohali for anti-bacterial anti-viral drug discovery and development.
In a major boost to the Make in India initiative in the healthcare sector, the prime minister also inaugurated five projects under the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for medical devices and bulk drugs at Vapi in Gujarat, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh and Nalagarh in Himachal Pradesh. These units will manufacture high-end medical devices, such as body implants and critical care equipment, along with important bulk drugs.
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