Pradhan Mantri Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana to be Launched by PM Modi Today. Here's What it Means

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch Pradhan Mantri Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana, a mega health infrastructure scheme worth over Rs 64,000 crore, in his Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh on Monday. The scheme was announced in the Budget speech of FY 21-22, for an outlay of about Rs 64,180 crore over six years (till FY 25-26) and will be in addition to the National Health Mission, as per the information provided by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Follow LIVE Updates

This would be Prime Minister Modi’s second visit to Uttar Pradesh, which goes to polls next year, in a week. Healthcare professionals from public health centers, sub-district and district hospitals, and the Government Medical College of Varanasi will join in virtually.

Here are some highlights about the centrally sponsored PMASBY scheme:

• It will be one of the largest pan-India schemes for strengthening healthcare infrastructure and will be in addition to the National Health Mission, the PMO said. Its objective is to fill gaps in public health infrastructure, especially in critical care facilities and primary care in both urban and rural areas.

• It will provide support for 17,788 rural health and wellness centers in 10 high focus states. Further, 11,024 urban health and wellness centers will be established in all the states.

• Critical care services will be available in all the districts of the country with more than five lakh populations through exclusive critical care hospital blocks, while the remaining districts will be covered through referral services.

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

• Under PMASBY, a national institution for one health, four new national institutes for virology, a regional research platform for WHO South East Asia Region, nine biosafety level-III laboratories, five new regional national centre for disease control will be set up, the PMO said.

• Under the scheme, preference is given to underserved, backward, and aspirational districts. The scheme aims to increase the availability of health professionals, correct the existing geographical imbalance in the distribution of medical colleges and effectively utilize the existing infrastructure of district hospitals.

• Under three phases of the scheme, 157 new medical colleges have been approved across the nation, out of which 63 medical colleges are already functional, the PMO said.

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