PM Modi launches 64,000 crores pan-India health mission

Varanasi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a Rs 64,000 crore Pradhan Mantri Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana (PMASBY) which is one of the largest pan-India schemes to strengthen the healthcare infrastructure, from his parliamentary constituency of Varanasi on Monday.

The mission will strengthen the health infrastructure of Uttar Pradesh as well as of the country, help in preparations to face future pandemics and bring confidence and self-reliance in the health sector, Modi said.

The prime minister said 'arogya' (overall wellbeing) is considered the base of all 'karma' and investments made to keep the body healthy has always been considered the best investment.

However, not enough was done in this front for a long time after Independence, he claimed.

"Those who had been in the government for a long time kept healthcare deprived of all-around development. Either there were not enough hospitals in villages or doctors were not there. Testing facilities were not available in block level." This newly launched mission will address these shortcomings, Modi said.

The target is to strengthen the healthcare network from village to block and national levels in the next four years. Special focus would be on the northeastern and the hilly states, the prime minister said.

The mission will provide support for 17,788 rural health and wellness centres in 10 high-focus states. Further, 11,024 urban health and wellness centres will be established in all the states. It is in addition to the National Health Mission.

Through this, critical care services will be available in all districts with more than five lakh populations through exclusive critical care hospital blocks. The other districts will be covered through referral services.

People will have access to a full range of diagnostic services in the public healthcare system through a network of laboratories across the country. Integrated public health laboratories will be set up in all districts.

A national institution for health, four new national institutes for virology, a regional research platform for WHO South-East Asia Region, nine biosafety level-three laboratories, five new regional national centres for disease control will be set up under the scheme.

Earlier in the day, the prime minister inaugurated nine medical colleges in Uttar Pradesh virtually from Siddharthnagar.

Built at a cost of Rs 2,329 crore, the medical colleges inaugurated on Monday are located in Siddharthnagar, Etah, Hardoi, Pratapgarh, Fatehpur, Deoria, Ghazipur, Mirzapur and Jaunpur districts.

While eight medical colleges have been sanctioned under a Centrally sponsored scheme for the establishment of new medical colleges attached with district or referral hospitals, the one in Jaunpur has been made functional by the state government through its own resources.

The Prime Minister has also announced new development projects worth Rs 5,200 crore for Varanasi.

He said that in the past seven years, Kashi had undergone a change with the building of roads, ghats, bridges, parking lots and cleaning of the Ganga and Varuna rivers.