The World Health Organization (WHO) director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus showered praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and health minister J P Nadda for their impressive leadership which changed the lives of around seven lakh people helping them avail benefits of the healthcare scheme Ayushman Bharat in the first 100 days of its inception.
“In its first 100 days, #India’s ambitious #AyushmanBharat scheme has provided free care for almost 700,000 people. I applaud Prime Minister @narendramodi and Health Minister @JPNadda for their visionary leadership for #HealthForAll,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus added.
In its first 100 days, #India's ambitious #AyushmanBharat scheme has provided free care for almost 700,000 people. I applaud Prime Minister @narendramodi and Health Minister @JPNadda for their visionary leadership for #HealthForAll. https://t.co/IAxUvIODNU
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) January 3, 2019
He had previously also appreciated the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, that intends to provide insurance cover of Rs five lakh per annum to 50 crore poor people by calling it a “great commitment”.
The ambitious healthcare scheme, regarded as the world’s largest, desires to benefit more than 10 crore poor families in the country.
n January 1, the finance minister Arun Jaitley had described the government’s flagship scheme Ayushman Bharat as a potential ‘game changer’ in healthcare and said that nearly 5,000 claims on an average are being settled daily since its launch on September 23, 2018.
It may be noted that the total number of hospitals covered by this scheme is 16,000, which is increasing at a good pace. More than 50% of the implementing hospitals come under the private sector. Jaitley said in the first 100 days alone, approximately 6.85 lakh patients have been offered hospital treatment and 51 lakh claims made use of the scheme, for which payment has also been released.
PM Narendra Modi rolled out the Ayushman Bharat scheme in September. It has been learnt that all the states and union territories, except Delhi Telangana and Odisha, have signed agreements with the health ministry for implementing the productive scheme.
