HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
• The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is the apex body for the implementation of various programmes on a national scale in the areas of health and family welfare, prevention and control of major communicable diseases and promotion of traditional and indigenous system of medicines. The Ministry also assists in preventing and controlling the spread of seasonal disease outbreaks and epidemics through technical assistance. Expenditure is incurred by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare either directly under central schemes or by way of grants-in-aids to the autonomous/statutory bodies etc. and NGOs.
• In addition to the centrally sponsored family welfare programmes, the Ministry is implementing several World Bank assisted programmes for control of AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis in designated areas. Besides State Health Systems Development Projects World Bank assistance programmes are also under implementation in various states which are being implemented by the respective State Governments.
The Department of Health and Family Welfare only facilitates the states in availing of external assistance. All these schemes aim at fulfilling the national commitment to improve access to Primary Health Care (PHC) facilities keeping in view the needs of rural areas and where the incidence of disease is high. National Health Policy 2002 The National Health Policy (NHP) 2002 evolved from the National Health Policy of 1983 under the recommendation and guidance of ‘Bhore Committee Report’ of 1946 wherein the main underlying principles for future health development of the country, aiming that "No individual should fail to secure adequate medical care because of inability to pay for it." Concerning the complexity of modern medical practice, the aim is to
provide all the consultant, laboratory and institutional facilities necessary for proper diagnosis and treatment when fully developed.
The National Health Policy, 2002 framework envisages, accelerated achievement of public health goals in the backdrop of the socio-economic circumstances prevailing in the country.
Some of the salient aspects of the NHP 2002, inter alia, include:
i) Making good the deficiencies in availability of health facilities, narrowing the gap between various states,
ii) The gap across the rural-urban divide in attainment of health goals and reducing the uneven access to and benefits from the public health system between the better endowed and the more vulnerable sections of society.
National Health Mission
The main programmatic components include Health System Strengthening in rural and urban areas,
ReproductiveMaternal-Neonatal-Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCH+A) and Communicable and Non- Communicable diseases. The NHM envisages achievement of universal access to equitable, affordable and quality healthcare services that are accountable and responsive to people's needs. In terms of major initiatives taken under NHM is More than 8.96 lakh Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) have been appointed across the country and who serve as facilitators, mobilizers and providers of community level care. ASHA is the first port of call in the community especially for marginalized sections of the population, with a focus on women and children
It has two sub-missions:
i. National Rural Health Mission (NRHM)
ii. National Urban Health Mission (NURM)
National Rural Health Mission
The thrust of the mission is on establishing a fully functional, community owned, decentralised health delivery system with inter-sectoral convergence at all levels, to ensure simultaneous action on a wide range of determinants of health such as water, sanitation, education, nutrition, social and gender equality. It seeks to provide affordable, accessible and quality healthcare to the rural population, especially the vulnerable groups. Under NRHM, the
Empowered Action Group (EAG) states as well as North-Eastern States, J & K and Himachal Pradesh have been given special focus.
National Urban Health Mission
National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) approved by the Union Cabinet on May 1, 2013 as a sub-mission of NHM which seeks to improve the health status of the urban population particularly urban poor and other vulnerable sections by facilitating their access to quality primary healthcare. NUHM would cover all state capitals, district headquarters and other cities/towns with a population of 50,000 and above (as per census 2011) in a phased manner. Cities and towns with population below 50,000 will continue to be covered under NRHM. The Centre-State Funding Pattern for special category states have 90:10 whereas rest of the states have 75:25. Rogi Kalyan Samiti, Janani Suraksha Yojana, Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakaram, National Ambulance Services, India Newborn Action plan, Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakaram, Rashtriya Kishore Swasthya Karyakaram etc. are the components of National Health Mission.
National Commission on Population
Constituted on May, 2000 to review, monitor and give direction for the implementation of the
National Population Policy (NPP), 2000 with a view to meeting the goals set out in the policy, to promote inter-sectoral coordination, involve the civil society in planning and implenmentation, gacilitate initiatives to improve performance in the demographically weaker states in the countryand to explore the possibilities of international cooperation in support of the goals set out in the National Population Policy. The NCP has been reconstituted with 40 members. The Prime Minister is the Chairperson of the NCP. The present membership includes the Chief Ministers of the States of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. As per NCP decisions there should be Annual Health Survey (AHS) of all districts which could be published annually so that health indicators at district level are periodically published, monitored and compared against benchmarks.
National Helpline: Aim is to provide reliable information of reproductive health, sexual health, contraception, pregnancy, child health and related issues. It is specifically for adolescents, newly married and about to be married persons from the high focus states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh but anyone of any age can seek help.
Family Planning Programme
The objectives, strategies and activities of the Family Planning division are designed and operated towards achieving the family welfare goals and objectives stated in various policy documents (NPP: National Population Policy 2000; NHP: National Health Policy 2002 and NRHM: National Rural Health Mission) and to honour the commitments of the Government of India (including ICPD: International Conference on Population and Development; MDG: Millennium Development Goals, FP; 2020 Summit and others).
The Child Health Programme
The Child Health Programme under the National Health Mission (NHM) comprehensively integrates
interventions that improve child survival and addresses factors contributing to infant and under 5 mortality. It is now well recognized that child survival cannot be addressed in isolation as it is intricately linked to the health of the mother, which is further determined by mother’s health and development as an adolescent. Therefore, the concept of continuum of care, that emphasizes care during critical life stages in order to improve child survival, has been adopted under the national programme. Another dimension of this approach is to ensure that essential services are made available at home, through community outreach and through health facilities at various levels (primary, first referral units and tertiary health care facilities). The newborn and child health are
now the two key pillars of the Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCH+A) strategic approach, 2013.
Public Sector Undertakings
Indian Medicine Pharmaceutical Corporation: A Government of India Enterprise having 97.61% shares of Government of India and 2.39% shares of Uttrakhand State Government through Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam Ltd., was in corporated in July 12, 1978. The registered office and factory of the company is at Mohan, District Almora, Uttarakhand. IMPCL comes under the Administrative Control of the Ministry of Ayush, New Delhi. IMPCL is supplying Ayurvedic and Unani medicines all over India. As the automation and 3rd phase modernization is under progress, the plant capacity for Tablets, Vati, Capsules, Churns, Avaleha, etc. will be enhanced at least by 8 to 10 times on completion of modernization work. The sales during the year 2014- 15 were approximately Rs. 32 crore.
• Drug Quality Control
The Drug Control Cell (DCC) in the Ministry of AYUSH deals with regulatory and quality control matters of Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathy drugs including amendment in the regulations, introduction of new regulations and examination of other drugs related issues.
During 2015-16, the Drug Control Cell has taken a number of steps for regulation and quality control of AYSUH Drugs. Good Clinical Practice (GCP) guidelines for Ayurveda, Siddha Unani Drugs have been finalized and one training programme/workshop in Pharmacopoeial Laboratory for Indian Medicine (PLIM), Ghaziabad was organized for capacity building on regulatory aspects, which was attended by State Drug Inspectors and Licensing Authorities of AYUSH.
Several Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) were signed with various countries during
2015. These are:
1.
A letter of Intent (LoI) was signed between University of Strasbourg, France and The Central Council
for Research in Ayurvedic Science (CCRAS) during the visit of Indian Prime Minister of India to France in April, 2015;
2. An
MoU on Cooperation in the field of Traditional Systems of Medicine between Government of India and Government of Mongolia was signed on May 17, 2015;
3. Cabinet had approved the extension of tenure of the
MoU signed with SATCM, China after its expiry for further period of five years up to 2017;
4. The Ministry of AYUSH agreed to provide one
Yoga Expert to Yoga College to be established under Yunnan Minzu University, China. An MoU in this regard was signed between Indian Council for Cultural relations (ICCR), Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the University at China;
5.
The Ministry of AYUSH supported by providing Yoga experts and financial assistance for organization of Yoga-Taichi event in China during the visit of Hon'ble Prime Minister of India to China in May, 2015;
6.
An MoU was signed between CCRAS and Rangsit University, Thailand on June 29, 2015 for
setting up of Ayurveda Chair;
7. The Ministry of AYUSH had set up an
AYUSH Information Cell in the premises of Indian Consulate at Dubai, UAE. The Cell was inaugurated on June 21, 2015;
8. The Ministry organised an '
International Conference on Yoga for Holistic Health' on June 21-22, 2015 consequent to the adoption of resolution for observing June 21 as the International Day of Yoga;
9.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of Turkmenistan on Cooperation in Yoga and Traditional Medicine on July 11, 2015 during visit of Hon'ble Prime Minister of India of Turkmenistan. The Centre established under the MoU was inaugurated during visit of Hon'ble Prime Minister of India on July 11, 2015.
