Health Policies in India and its Implementation

8th August, 2023 - 5:39 am Categories: pharma 0 Comments

Introduction

Following the pandemic India, a developing nation with limited resources, has created a number of policies to expand its healthcare system. The government has not only changed existing policies to better suit the times, but it has also boldly introduced new ones. The article’s goal is to discuss some policies with their goals and objectives that occasionally make the news.

National Health Mission^[1]:The Mission was launched through a cabinet decision vide the cabinet decisesion on the 1st of May 2013. Under the mission the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) is sub mission for the rural areas of the country.^[2]

The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and the National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) are two sub-missions of the National Health Mission (NHM). Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal, Child, and Adolescent Health (RMNCH+A), and Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases are the three main programmatic components. According to the NHM, everyone will be able to access fair, affordable, and high-quality healthcare services that are accountable and sensitive to the needs of their patients. The Cabinet approved the continuation of the National Health Mission at its meeting on March 21, 2018, with effect from April 1, 2017, to March 31, 2020. The aim of NHM is to reflect equity, quality, efficiency, and responsiveness. Among other goals some of them are prevention of Anaemia, Kala azar, Leprosy, Malaria in India.

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The Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) is a significant initiative that focuses on early detection and early intervention for kids from birth to 18 years old to address the four “D’s”: defects at birth, deficiencies, diseases, and developmental delays, including disability. Early diagnosis and treatment of illnesses, including deficiencies, have an added benefit in preventing the development of more severe and incapacitating forms of these conditions.

The Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram: Adolescent participation and leadership, equity and inclusion, gender equity, and strategic partnerships with other sectors and stakeholders are the program’s guiding principles. The programme enables all teenagers in India to reach their full potential by helping them access the services and support they need to make wise decisions about their health and wellbeing.

The Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) was introduced with the intention of addressing regional disparities in the accessibility of affordable/reliable tertiary healthcare services as well as enhancing the country’s resources for high-quality medical education by establishing various institutions like AIIMS and upgrading government medical college facilities.

Due to the extreme income disparities, the government has started a number of programmes to assist the nation’s economically disadvantaged class. As 3.2 crore people in India spend their own money on healthcare each year, they are considered to be living below the national poverty line. Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi, the government’s most significant programme, offers financial aid to patients who are below the poverty line and have life-threatening illnesses so they can receive treatment at any government-run super specialty hospital or institution.

The National Tobacco Control Programme was established with the goal of increasing public awareness of the detrimental effects of tobacco use, of tobacco control laws, and of how to effectively implement these laws.

The goal of the Integrated Child Development Service is to improve the nutrition and health status of children between the ages of 0 and 6 years, lay the groundwork for the child’s proper psychological, physical, and social development, and effectively coordinate and implement policy among the various departments. It also aims to increase the mother’s capacity to take care of her child’s regular health and nutrition needs by providing her with appropriate nutrition and health education.

The government of India’s revised national TB control programme is a state-run tuberculosis prevention programme with the goal of making India TB-free. Through the government health system, the programme offers various high-quality, no-cost tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment services across the nation.

 National Health Policy 2017^[3] –  The 2017 National Health Policy’s main goal is to better inform, clarify, prioritise, and strengthen the government’s role in forming health systems in all of their aspects, including investments in healthcare, the organization of healthcare services, the prevention of diseases and promotion of good health through cross-sectoral actions, access to technologies, human resource development, encouraging medical pluralism, knowledge base building, and better financial protection strategies.

The National Health Policy of India (2017) aims to raise public health spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2025.13 The Policy places a focus on increased investment in primary and preventative healthcare, access to secondary and tertiary care, financial protection, and the provision of free medications, diagnostics, and emergency care services at all public hospitals. The Policy also contemplates collaboration with the private sector, including the use of financial and non-financial incentives to promote participation.

Ayushman Bharat^[4]  In order to realise the goal of Universal Health Coverage (UHC), the Government of India’s flagship programme, Ayushman Bharat, was introduced as advised by the National Health Policy 2017. This programme was created to fulfil the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their core principle, “leave no one behind.”

Ayushman Bharat represents an effort to transition from a sectoral and segmented approach to the delivery of health services to a comprehensive need-based approach. This programme aims to implement ground-breaking interventions to holistically address the healthcare system at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels (covering prevention, promotion, and ambulatory care).

The Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY):^[5] Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY is the largest health assurance programme in the world. It aims to give over 12 crore poor and vulnerable families—roughly 55 crore beneficiaries—who make up the bottom 40% of the Indian population a health cover of Rs. 5 lakhs per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation.

National AYUSH Mission (NAM)^[6] The National AYUSH Mission (NAM), which will be carried out by States and UTs, was launched during the 12th Plan by the Department of AYUSH in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of India. The main goal of NAM is to support AYUSH medical systems by strengthening educational systems, enforcing quality control of Ayurvedic, Siddha, Unani, and Homoeopathic (ASU &H) medications, and ensuring the long-term availability of ASU & H raw materials. It anticipates flexible programme implementation, which will result in significant participation from the UT and State Governments. The NAM envisions the creation of both a National Mission and equivalent Missions at the State level. The Department’s outreach in terms of planning, supervising, and monitoring the schemes is likely to significantly improve with NAM.

THE WAY FORWARD

For a better implementation of the polities in a recent instance the Prime Minister announced the launch of the National Digital Health Mission^[7] in his speech to the nation on the 74th anniversary of India’s independence.  In order to support clinical decision-making and provide services like telemedicine, the Mission aims to develop a management mechanism to process digital health data and facilitate its seamless exchange, register public and private facilities, healthcare service providers, laboratories, and pharmacies, and support clinical decision-making. The health system may become more evidence-based, open, and effective as a result of NDHM. In addition to allowing patients to share their health profiles with providers for treatment and monitoring, the government’s push towards digitization will also give them access to accurate data about the qualifications and costs of the services provided by various medical facilities, providers, and diagnostic labs.

Through diligent NDHM implementation, it is anticipated that the health sector will be able to unlock an additional economic value of more than USD 200 billion over the course of the next ten years. This can be made possible by three key changes: an increase in the demand for healthcare services, particularly the desire for early treatment of NCDs; an improvement in the standard of care made possible by digital health (a shift from volume-based to value-based healthcare); and the simplification of multi stakeholder processes and interactions through the use of a comprehensive health information system. Together, these factors will increase efficiency, reduce costs, and ultimately improve productivity and health outcomes.

Author: sukanya nema, in case of any queries please contact/write back to us via email to chhavi@khuranaandkhurana.com or at Khurana & Khurana, Advocates and IP Attorney.

^[1] 56987532145632566578.pdf (mohfw.gov.in)

^[2] NHM_more_information.pdf

^[3] National Health Policy, 2017. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Government of India. Retrieved February 23, 2021 from https://www.nhp.gov.in/nhpfiles/national_ health_policy_2017.pdf.

^[4] NHA | Official website Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (abdm.gov.in)

^[5] About PM-JAY – National Health Authority | GOI (nha.gov.in)

^[6] National-AYUSH-Mission-.pdf

^[7] National Digital Health Mission. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Government of India. Retrieved January 11, 2021 from https://ndhm.gov.in/