Current Affairs

Issue

Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission has been launched by Prime Minister Modi in Varanasi.

 

Background

The mission will be the largest pan-India scheme since 2005 for the creation and improvement of long-term public healthcare infrastructure.

Details

• The mission will work towards addressing three critical gaps in public health sector of India.

• This includes setting up of Integrated Public Health labs for diagnosis of disease, augmenting health facilities for treatment and expansion of existing research institutions that study pandemics.

• The mission will be implemented in each district of the country. The government will be spending Rs 64,180 crore on the scheme from the financial year 2021-22 to 2025-26.

 

First component

• Integrated Public Health laboratories will be set up across 730 districts of the country. About 20 metropolitan units, 5 regional branches of the National Centre for Disease Control will be set up.

•  The Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP) will be set up at national level.

 

Second component

• Comprehensive diagnostics and treatment infrastructure will be set up. This includes wellness centres in rural and urban areas. 

• Critical care centres will be set up in districts where the population is above 5 lakh. Container-based mobile hospitals will be set up at national level.

 

Third component

• The mission’s third component will be based on comprehensive pandemic research. The existing viral diagnostics and research labs will be strengthened.

• About 15 new bio-safety level III laboratories will be set up at the state level.  Four new regional national institutes for virology will be set up at national level.