As of July 25, 20.32 lakh tests and 7.08 lakh hospital admissions related to COVID-19 were authorised under the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), the government informed Parliament on Tuesday.
Public health being a state subject, the response to the COVID-19 pandemic is primarily directed by the state governments, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar said in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.
The National Health Authority (NHA) has been providing the necessary support to the states and Union territories for ensuring free COVID-19 testing and treatment to all eligible beneficiaries under AB-PMJAY.
When the pandemic broke out, the existing packages were used for providing treatment, Ms Pawar said.
Later, special packages for treatment and testing of COVID-19 were introduced, she added.
Many states decided to make Covid testing and treatment free for all residents. While some used the AB-PMJAY ecosystem, including the NHA's IT platform, others made it free.
Therefore, COVID-19 treatment has been covered in both general packages and packages specific to the disease under AB-PMJAY.
"As on 25th July 2021, 20.32 lakh COVID related testing and 7.08 lakh COVID related hospital admissions have been authorised under the scheme," Ms Pawar said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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