Asserting that the ‘Swachchh Bharat Mission’ is playing a central role in creating a healthy India as the sanitation coverage in the country has increased from 38 per cent to nearly 80 per cent, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday enlisted various measures that his Government has been taking in the past four years to ensure affordable healthcare for every Indian.
Interacting with beneficiaries of the ‘Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP)’ and affordable cardiac stents and knee implants through video conference, he said that more than 3.5 lakh villages in the country have declared themselves open defecation free.
“Cleanliness is considered to be first necessity for a healthy life. We initiated the campaign to construct toilets at home. This campaign for cleanliness is being taken forward successfully by 125 crore people of the country.
“look at its results. Sanitation coverage has gone up from 38 per cent to around 80 per cent. So if it was 40 per cent it has (it means) doubled. The scheme is playing a central role in creating a healthy India,” Modi said.
He also talked about Government’s efforts in providing more beds, hospitals and doctors and has taken one step after the other so that the cost incurred by the poor on treatment comes down.
He said for providing good medical facilities to the poor and those residing in rural areas, more than 90 medical colleges have been opened and 15,000 MBBS seats increased.
Talking about Ayushman Bharat programme, he said under this, around 10 crore families and 50 crore people will be given health insurance of Rs 5 lakh.
“The first phase of this yojana has been initiated and soon people across the country, will get benefited by it,” he said. As people living in small villages or t
owns find it difficult to go to a hospital or health centre that is very far away, the government has decided to open around 1.5 lakh health and wellness centres across the country under Ayushman Bharat.
Apart from medicines, diagnostics facilities will also be available in them. “I can say with satisfaction that we have chosen the right direction, taken the right path, made the right policies and they are now reaching the grass root level...We have worked in mission mode,” he said.
He said access to medicines is a big concern for the poor and the Government’s constant endeavour is to “ensure affordable healthcare to every Indian”.