'Ayushman Bhav': India's New Health Campaign To Roll Out On PM Modi's Birthday

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the new health initiative aims at reaching out to seven crore families. The approach aims to saturate coverage of health services through its three components Ayushman - Apke Dwar 3.0, Ayushman Melas at Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs) and Community Health Centres (CHCs), and Ayushman Sabhas in every village and panchayat.

Through the Ayushman Apke Dwar 3.0 initiative, the government aims to provide Ayushman cards to the remaining eligible beneficiaries enrolled under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (PMJAY) scheme. Whereas, the Ayushman Melas will facilitate the creation of ABHA (Ayushman Bharat Health Account) IDs (Health IDs) and issuance of Ayushman Bharat Cards. And lastly Ayushman Sabhas or gatherings in every village and panchayat will play a pivotal role in distributing Ayushman cards, generating ABHA IDs, and raising awareness about vital health schemes and disease conditions, such as non-communicable diseases, tuberculosis (Nikshay Mitra), sickle cell disease, as well as blood donation and organ donation drives.

Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya while launching the campaign said, 'The Ayushman Bhav' campaign is aligned with the vision of creating 'Healthy Villages' and 'Healthy Gram Panchayats', laying the foundation for achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in the country. Panchayats that successfully saturate the health schemes will earn the prestigious title of 'Ayushman Gram Panchayat' or 'Ayushman Urban Ward', symbolising their dedication to equitable healthcare provision.'

The new health campaign also includes organ donation and blood donation drives, which were recently added as the sixth and seventh pillars of the Ayushman Bharat. An online organ donation pledge registry will be initiated during the ‘Sewa Pakhwada' to register the pledges of willing citizens all over the country. A 24x7 toll-free helpline number - 1800114770 - is functional for providing any guidance related to the pledging process or information on organ donation.

The flagship scheme - The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, under which this new initiative is being rolled out has been implemented by the National Health Authority (NHA). The scheme provides a health cover of up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation to 12 crore beneficiary families.