Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the poor and needy have been able to save Rs 50,000 crore annually due to various health-related measures taken up by his government like providing affordable medicines, healthcare and reducing the prices of medical devices.
Modi, who dedicated to the nation the 7,500th Janaushadhi Kendra at North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health & Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) in Shillong, also said the move to provide affordable medicines through the Janaushadhi scheme is spreading across the length and breadth of the country.
In a virtual address at the ‘Janaushadhi Week’ celebrated across the nation from March 1 to March 7 to create awareness about the ‘Janaushadhi’ scheme, the Prime Minister said it is helping countrymen living in tribal areas in the North East and the mountainous areas.
“Today when the 7,500th centre has been inaugurated, it has been held in Shillong. It is clear from this how much public health centres are expanding in the North East,” Modi said.
The Prime Minister, who also interacted with people from different parts of the country, further said, “It is clear from my discussion with people who run the Janaushadhi centres at every corner of the country and some of its beneficiaries, that this scheme is becoming a very big companion of poor and middle-class families. This scheme is becoming the medium of both service and employment”.
Underlining the various steps taken up by his government to make healthcare affordable to the poor and needy, he said prices of essential drugs as well as medical devices such as stents and knee implants have been reduced manifold.
“It has led to the saving of Rs 12,500 crore per year for the needy people. The Ayushman Bharat scheme is helping 50 crore people get Rs 5 lakh worth of treatment. Over 1.5 crore people have already taken this benefit. It is estimated that it has led to savings of around Rs 30,000 crore for people.”It means that if we collate the savings being affected by Janaushadhi,
Ayushman Bharat and decline in prices of drugs and stents (medical devices) if we only take government schemes in the health sector, then poor and middle-income groups are saving around Rs 50,000 crore per year,” the Prime Minister said.