New Delhi: Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda on Friday highlighted the key achievements of the Union Health Ministry in the first 100 days of the government and said that about Rs 15 lakh crore has been invested with speed and scale across various ministries in the last 100 days.
He said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched several major initiatives aimed at enhancing healthcare delivery and access in India.
Nadda said that the cabinet expansion has been announced recently. Ayushman Bharat The PMJAY scheme will cover all senior citizens aged 70 years and above, irrespective of their income group. It will benefit around 6 crore people from 4.5 crore families. Nadda said Ayushman Bharat is the world’s largest publicly funded health coverage program. He said the expanded scheme will be implemented from October this year.
Another significant development is the U-WIN portal, developed for complete digitisation of immunization services to preserve complete immunization records of pregnant women and children from birth to 17 years under the immunization drive. Universal Immunization ProgramThe citizen-centric services of the digital platform include ‘anytime access’ and ‘anywhere’ vaccination services, self-registration by citizens using the U-WIN web-portal or the U-WIN Citizen mobile application, automated SMS alerts, a universal QR-based e-vaccination certificate and the facility to create Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) ID for yourself and Child ABHA ID for your children. The portal is available in 11 regional languages including Hindi.
“The U-WIN portal has been developed for complete digitisation of immunisation services for complete immunisation records of pregnant women and children from birth to 17 years under the Universal Immunisation Programme,” he informed, adding that the portal is already operational on a pilot basis. As on September 16, 2024, 6.46 crore beneficiaries have been registered, 1.04 crore vaccination sessions have been conducted and 23.06 crore administered vaccines have been recorded on the portal.
A shorter and more effective treatment regimen is now available under the National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP), which will help reduce the duration of treatment from 9-12 months to 6 months. It has been validated with Health Technology Assessment (HTA) by ICMR.
Nadda informed that the Union Health Ministry, in consultation with the State/UT governments, is preparing a detailed rollout plan for training of healthcare professionals and logistics to launch this new system early next year. He also highlighted the expected reduction in the duration of treatment regime in about 75,000 DRTB cases across the country.
To ensure nationwide coverage by ‘state-of-the-art’ molecular methods for TB and drug resistance diagnosis, a new indigenous diagnostic system (Patho Detect) has been validated by ICMR with field feasibility. This will reduce the time taken for test results, leading to reduction in morbidity and mortality of TB patients, Nadda said.
Bhishma Cubes is a portable and rapidly deployable modular medical facility aimed at providing emergency lifesaving clinical care in disaster/public health emergencies. The Union Health Minister said that Bhishma Cubes has the capacity to handle around 200 cases of various nature of emergency situations such as trauma, bleeding, burns, fractures etc.
In the first phase, Bhishma Cubes will be placed in 25 AIIMS and Institutions of National Importance (INI) for rapid deployment in the respective area in case of disaster/health emergency. States can also deploy them at strategic locations later. India has recently gifted four Bhishma Cubes during the visit of Hon’ble Prime Minister to Ukraine.
Drone services assist in fast, cost-effective and safe delivery of medical supplies and samples in remote and difficult terrains. Fifteen (15) AIIMS/INI/NE institutions have been identified for drone services. Drone trials and training have been completed in 12 institutions. Drones provide safe, accurate, reliable pickup and delivery of medicines, vaccines, blood, diagnostic samples and other life-saving items to remote locations, Nadda said.
The Union Health Minister said that increase in the number of medical colleges and MBBS and PG seats will increase the availability of doctors in the healthcare system.
The number of medical colleges has increased from 706 in 2023-24 to 766 in 2024-25, an increase of 8.07 per cent. The number of medical colleges has increased from 387 in 2013-14 to 766 in 2024-25, an increase of 98 per cent. During the same period, 379 new medical colleges have been established and currently there are 766 (Government: 423, Private: 343) medical colleges in the country.
There has been an increase of 6.30 per cent in MBBS seats, from 1,08,940 in 2023-24 to 1,15,812 in 2024-25. There has been an increase of 64,464 (i.e., 125 per cent) in MBBS seats from 2013-14 (51,348 seats) to 2024-25 (11,5812 seats).
He said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched several major initiatives aimed at enhancing healthcare delivery and access in India.
Nadda said that the cabinet expansion has been announced recently. Ayushman Bharat The PMJAY scheme will cover all senior citizens aged 70 years and above, irrespective of their income group. It will benefit around 6 crore people from 4.5 crore families. Nadda said Ayushman Bharat is the world’s largest publicly funded health coverage program. He said the expanded scheme will be implemented from October this year.
Another significant development is the U-WIN portal, developed for complete digitisation of immunization services to preserve complete immunization records of pregnant women and children from birth to 17 years under the immunization drive. Universal Immunization ProgramThe citizen-centric services of the digital platform include ‘anytime access’ and ‘anywhere’ vaccination services, self-registration by citizens using the U-WIN web-portal or the U-WIN Citizen mobile application, automated SMS alerts, a universal QR-based e-vaccination certificate and the facility to create Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) ID for yourself and Child ABHA ID for your children. The portal is available in 11 regional languages including Hindi.
“The U-WIN portal has been developed for complete digitisation of immunisation services for complete immunisation records of pregnant women and children from birth to 17 years under the Universal Immunisation Programme,” he informed, adding that the portal is already operational on a pilot basis. As on September 16, 2024, 6.46 crore beneficiaries have been registered, 1.04 crore vaccination sessions have been conducted and 23.06 crore administered vaccines have been recorded on the portal.
A shorter and more effective treatment regimen is now available under the National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP), which will help reduce the duration of treatment from 9-12 months to 6 months. It has been validated with Health Technology Assessment (HTA) by ICMR.
Nadda informed that the Union Health Ministry, in consultation with the State/UT governments, is preparing a detailed rollout plan for training of healthcare professionals and logistics to launch this new system early next year. He also highlighted the expected reduction in the duration of treatment regime in about 75,000 DRTB cases across the country.
To ensure nationwide coverage by ‘state-of-the-art’ molecular methods for TB and drug resistance diagnosis, a new indigenous diagnostic system (Patho Detect) has been validated by ICMR with field feasibility. This will reduce the time taken for test results, leading to reduction in morbidity and mortality of TB patients, Nadda said.
Bhishma Cubes is a portable and rapidly deployable modular medical facility aimed at providing emergency lifesaving clinical care in disaster/public health emergencies. The Union Health Minister said that Bhishma Cubes has the capacity to handle around 200 cases of various nature of emergency situations such as trauma, bleeding, burns, fractures etc.
In the first phase, Bhishma Cubes will be placed in 25 AIIMS and Institutions of National Importance (INI) for rapid deployment in the respective area in case of disaster/health emergency. States can also deploy them at strategic locations later. India has recently gifted four Bhishma Cubes during the visit of Hon’ble Prime Minister to Ukraine.
Drone services assist in fast, cost-effective and safe delivery of medical supplies and samples in remote and difficult terrains. Fifteen (15) AIIMS/INI/NE institutions have been identified for drone services. Drone trials and training have been completed in 12 institutions. Drones provide safe, accurate, reliable pickup and delivery of medicines, vaccines, blood, diagnostic samples and other life-saving items to remote locations, Nadda said.
The Union Health Minister said that increase in the number of medical colleges and MBBS and PG seats will increase the availability of doctors in the healthcare system.
The number of medical colleges has increased from 706 in 2023-24 to 766 in 2024-25, an increase of 8.07 per cent. The number of medical colleges has increased from 387 in 2013-14 to 766 in 2024-25, an increase of 98 per cent. During the same period, 379 new medical colleges have been established and currently there are 766 (Government: 423, Private: 343) medical colleges in the country.
There has been an increase of 6.30 per cent in MBBS seats, from 1,08,940 in 2023-24 to 1,15,812 in 2024-25. There has been an increase of 64,464 (i.e., 125 per cent) in MBBS seats from 2013-14 (51,348 seats) to 2024-25 (11,5812 seats).
