Pradhan Mantri-Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission | UPSC Current Affairs

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Context

The World Bank is lending up to $1 billion to help India with preparedness for future pandemics as well as to strengthen its health infrastructure.
Through this financing, the bank will support India’s flagship Pradhan Mantri-Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM), launched in October 2021, to improve the public healthcare infrastructure across the country.

PM-ABHIM

In the Budget speech of FY 21-22, ‘Prime Minister Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana’ (PMASBY) scheme was renamed as PM – Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM).
The measures under the scheme focus on developing capacities of health systems and institutions across the continuum of care at all levels viz. primary, secondary and tertiary and on preparing health systems in responding effectively to the current and future pandemics/disasters.
The Mission targets to build an IT enabled disease surveillance system by developing a network of surveillance laboratories at block, district, regional and national levels.
It also focuses on strengthening health units at the Points of Entry, for effectively detecting, investigating, preventing, and combating Public Health Emergencies and Disease Outbreaks.

Components of PM-ABHIM

Centrally Sponsored Components:

Support for 17,788 rural Health and Wellness Centres in 10 High Focus States.
Establishing 11,024 urban Health and Wellness Centres in all the States.
3382 Block Public Health Units in 11 High Focus states. Support for other States/UTs under XV Finance Commission Health Sector Grants and NHM.
Setting up of Integrated Public Health Labs in all districts.
Establishing Critical Care Hospital Blocks in all districts with population more than 5 lakhs.

Central Sector Components

12 Central Institutions as training and mentoring sites with 150 bedded Critical Care Hospital Blocks;
Strengthening of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), 5 New Regional NCDCs and 20 metropolitan health surveillance units;
Expansion of the Integrated Health Information Portal to all States/UTs to connect all public health labs;
Operationalisation of 17 new Public Health Units and strengthening of 33 existing Public Health Units at Points of Entry, that is at 32 Airports, 11 Seaports and 7 land crossings;
Setting up of 15 Health Emergency Operation Centres and 2 container based mobile hospitals; and
Setting up of a national institution for One Health, 4 New National Institutes for Virology, a Regional Research Platform for WHO South East Asia Region and 9 Bio-Safety Level III laboratories.

PRACTICE QUESTION

Q) What is ‘Prime Minister Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana’ (PMASBY) scheme? Briefly describe its features and components.