Govt keen to make healthcare affordable: Health Min Nadda
NEW DELHI: Union Health & Family Welfare Minister JP Nadda here on Thursday said the government was keen to formalise a multi-stakeholder forum to arrive at policy decisions and formulate implementable strategies to make healthcare affordable and accessible to all.
He was addressing FICCI HEAL 2018 with the theme 'Healthcare at Crossroads', jointly organised by FICCI and NITI Aayog.
"There is no formal structure for policy interaction and very soon we will have a forum where multi-stakeholders will join hands with the government for policy decisions and program implementation plans," he said and added that such synergies would be important to achieve a hepatitis-free India by 2030.
The Minister added that Ayushman Bharat (Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna) looks at health holistically with twin pillars of Health and Wellness Centres for comprehensive Primary Health Care and financial protection for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation.
"Ayushman Bharat is a historic decision and has two pillars of preventive and promotive healthcare and converting 1.5 lakh sub-centres and PHCs into health and wellness centres. All support should be given to health centres to ensure preventive care. For this, we are going for universal health screening at the age of 30. This is a paradigm shift as far as health care is concerned and this is one area where the private sector can come in."
He said that healthcare services should also be credible accompanied by affordability, accessibility, and quality.
Dr VK Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog, said as course correction in healthcare takes place, quality and ethics will be the guiding force. He urged the private sector to engage with the government in providing quality care at reasonable rates, monitored by the government. He said, "PMJAY is not possible without the engagement of the private sector. We need to create a pipeline of specialists and the private sector can help in filling that gap."
Sangita Reddy, Vice President, FICCI and Joint MD, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd. in her welcome address, said, "India is no longer at crossroads with the launch of Ayushman Bharat. Healthcare has entered the Universal Collective Super Highway."
